Israel hammers north Gaza as Hamas calls for escalation and US warns of famine

Israeli bombs pounded northern Gaza on Tuesday as Hamas’ military wing called for an escalation against Israel and the overthrow of Jordan’s monarchy.

Amid the spike in violence, David Satterfield, the U.S. regional envoy for humanitarian issues, said the risk of famine in Gaza, especially in the north, was “very high.” Gaza has seen a “slight increase” in the number of aid trucks arriving from Egypt and Jordan, Federico Dessi, Middle East director for the aid group Humanity & Inclusion told USA TODAY, “but it is still far below the level we need.”

A Palestinian man wait for news of his daughter as rescue workers search for survivors under the rubble of a building hit in an overnight Israeli bombing in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 21, 2024.

Last month, President Joe Biden demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu open Gaza to more humanitarian aid, but supplies remain backed up at different border crossings. Dessi, whose organization helps people with disabilities and those injured by war, said 12 truckloads of wheelchairs and crutches had been waiting since January to cross from Jordan.

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The renewed shelling and bombing of northern Gaza comes almost four months after the Israeli army said it was drawing down troops there, saying it had pushed Hamas out.

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In a social media post, Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee urged residents of four zones in Beit Lahiya on Gaza’s northern edge to move to shelter in two designated areas.

Adraee said the military “will work with extreme force against terrorist infrastructure and subversive elements.” On Tuesday night, he reported that six rockets had been fired from northern Gaza and Gaza City toward Israel.

Fleeing war, again

“We hear people are fleeing today, we don’t know where − to the south or to other parts of the northern Gaza Strip,” Dessi said.

Abu Ubaida, spokesperson for Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades, called for an escalation across all fronts in a televised speech marking 200 days since the Oct. 7 start of the war, when 1,200 Israelis were killed 253 taken hostage in a Hamas rampage across southern Israel. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been reported killed in the ensuing war.

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The spokesman celebrated Iran’s thwarted April 13 attack on Israel and called for residents to rise up in the West Bank and in Jordan, calling it “one of the most important Arab fronts.”

The Jordanian air force shot down dozens of Iranian drones headed for Israel as they crossed over Jordan during the April 13 attack. “We call on the Jordanian people to step up their actions and raise their voices,” Abu Ubaida said. Israel retaliated for the swarm of more than 300 drones and missiles with a limited strike on Iran last Friday.

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Hamas wants an end to the Israeli military offensive before it frees hostages

He said Hamas was sticking to its demands in cease-fire talks that Israel end its military offensive and call off its siege of the coastal enclave before the remaining hostages can be freed.

Israel “is stalling in reaching a hostages-swap deal and is trying to obstruct efforts by the mediators to reach a ceasefire agreement,” Abu Ubaida said.

A spokesman for Qatar foreign ministry said earlier on Tuesday that all parties to the conflict should “show seriousness” to allow a cease-fire to succeed.

“After six months of war and humanitarian effort, we are counting the days to a real cease-fire,” Dessi said.

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel hammers north Gaza as Hamas calls for escalation and US warns of famine