Two days after the U.N. call for a cease-fire, Israeli strikes on Gaza haven’t let up.
Israel’s air force on Wednesday continued to pound the Gaza Strip with strikes, and Hamas fighters kept up attacks against Israeli soldiers, a further indication that a United Nations Security Council resolution this week calling for a cease-fire had failed to persuade either side as attempts for an agreement appeared to falter.
Over the two days since the U.N. resolution passed on Monday, the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, has said it is continuing to carry out attacks against Israeli soldiers. The Israeli military said on Wednesday that warplanes had hit dozens of targets over the previous day, including tunnels, military compounds and militants.
Israel has been outspoken in its condemnation of the Security Council resolution, which called for a cease-fire for the remaining weeks of Ramadan that would lead to a “lasting, sustainable” halt in the fighting and the unconditional release of all hostages held by militants in Gaza. The United States, which has vetoed previous attempts, abstained, allowing the resolution to pass.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, met in Jerusalem on Wednesday with Senator Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, and continued to express defiance over the U.S. decision. He argued, according to a statement from his office, that it encouraged “Hamas to take a hard line and to believe that international pressure will prevent Israel from freeing the hostages and destroying Hamas.”
Israel and Hamas appear no closer to negotiating a stop in fighting, with significant gaps remaining between them.
On Wednesday, three Palestinian human rights groups said that there had been an intensification of Israeli bombardments on Rafah over the previous 72 hours, killing dozens. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans are sheltering there. Some of the strikes described by the groups occurred after the Security Council’s resolution passed, while several others took place prior.
Gazan authorities reported on Wednesday that Civil Defense teams had pulled Palestinians out of the rubble after strikes in the Jabaliya neighborhood of northern Gaza, though the timing was unclear.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said its teams had picked up the bodies of two people killed by artillery fire in the Nuseirat neighborhood.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reports.
On Wednesday afternoon, Hamas said that it hit a soldier in the area surrounding Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City with sniper fire, after saying Tuesday that it had targeted two Israeli tanks in the Khan Younis area, and an armored personnel carrier and a soldier on the coastal north-south road.
Since early last week, Israeli forces have been raiding Al-Shifa in what the military has said is an effort to crack down on Hamas. Humanitarian organizations have expressed alarm over the situation at the medical facility, which, along with the surrounding area, had been sheltering thousands of people.
Over the last 48 hours, the Qassam Brigades has also published videos purporting to show militants firing on Israeli forces, but it was not clear when the videos were taken.
