China News Service, Beijing, February 3rd Comprehensive News: The United Nations agency stated on the 2nd that as hostilities in the southern city of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip have intensified in recent days, many people have fled to the border town of Rafah.
According to the United Nations news website, a spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs expressed on the 2nd that it is deeply concerned about the intensification of hostilities in Khan Younis, which has also forced more people to flee to Rafah. The spokesman described Rafa as a "pressure cooker of despair" and said "we are worried about what will happen next".
Rafah is known as the "last refuge" in the Gaza Strip. According to United Nations statistics, before the outbreak of the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Rafah had a population of approximately 300,000. With the influx of residents from other areas of Gaza, Rafah has hosted more than half of Gaza's total population of approximately 2.3 million.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society issued a statement on the 2nd, calling for the establishment of a humanitarian corridor to help evacuate the wounded and others who want to leave Khan Younis Amal Hospital. The statement said the hospital had been besieged for 12 consecutive days and the surrounding areas suffered "relentless bombing and direct artillery fire." On the 2nd, the attack resulted in 4 deaths and 6 injuries.
According to the Associated Press, the U.S. military launched air strikes on targets of Iranian-backed armed groups in Syria and Iraq on the 2nd. This was in retaliation for the death of three U.S. soldiers in Jordan in a drone attack recently.
According to reports, the US military carried out large-scale air strikes on more than 85 targets in 7 locations in Syria and Iraq, including headquarters, weapons warehouses and other facilities. US President Biden has made it clear that he will carry out multiple staged retaliations against armed groups that attack the US military.
The Times of Israel quoted US media reports on the 2nd that internal differences among the leaders of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) have hindered the negotiation process of a hostage release agreement.
Sources revealed that Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, supports a temporary truce and hopes that a ceasefire will last for six weeks, which will allow fighters to regroup and allow more aid to enter Gaza. However, Hamas politburo leader Ismail Haniyeh is pushing for further Israeli concessions in the hope of a permanent ceasefire with international guarantees and a plan to rebuild Gaza.
CNN reported that more than 800 officials from Europe and the United States issued a joint statement on the 2nd, severely criticizing the West’s policies on Palestine and Israel, and accusing their governments of being “complicit in war crimes.”
According to reports, the statement was "coordinated" by EU institutions, civil servants from the Netherlands and the United States, and was supported by civil servants from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. A U.S. official involved in the signing said the statement "shows the deep concern, anger and fear that we are all witnessing" and that those concerns are being ignored by our government. (over)