New Delhi: Amid persistent international calls for a ceasefire, Israeli warplanes targeted two urban refugee camps in central Gaza on Saturday after the Biden administration approved a new emergency weapons sale to the country, news agency AP reported. The United States has been providing diplomatic support to Israel and continues to supply weapons. Although the Biden administration has been urging Israel to minimise Palestinian civilian casualties, it shares the view that ending the war now would mean victory for Hamas.
The two urban refugee camps were Nuseirat and Bureij.
Speaking to the news agency, a senior Hamas official in Beirut said that the group has not changed its stance that a permanent ceasefire has to be the starting point for any further release of Israeli and foreign hostages, a demand that the Israel is bound to reject.
According to the Health Ministry in Gaza, the Palestinian death toll since the beginning of the war has reached 21,672 and as many as 56,165 people have been injured. A total of 165 people were killed in the last 24 hours, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said, AP reported.
“The (Israeli) occupation is doing everything to force people to leave. They want to break our spirit and will but they will fail. We are here to stay,” Nuseirat resident Mustafa Abu Wawee told AP.
According to a Bureij resident, sounds of gunfire could be heard across the camp overnight and it was followed by heavy airstrikes on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the US State Department on Friday said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Congress he approved a 147.5 million USD sale for equipment, including fuses, charges and primers, that is needed for 155 mm shells Israel bought earlier. The State Department cited “urgency of Israel’s defensive needs” for approval.
This marks the second time this month that the Biden administration is bypassing Congress to approve an emergency weapons sale to Israel.
