22 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza Strip

Recognition of Palestinian state brings no relief for exhausted Gazans

Spain approves total arms embargo against Israel

GAZA: Israel’s military pushed deeper towards the most populated areas of Gaza City on Tuesday, a stark reminder for Gazans that Western powers’ recognition of a Palestinian state does not mean an end to the horrors of war as tanks approach.

Israel pressed on with its Gaza offensive a day after dozens of world leaders gathered at the United Nations to embrace a Palestinian state, a landmark diplomatic shift after nearly two years of war that faces fierce resistance from Israel and its close ally the United States.

Local health authorities said Israeli fire on Tuesday killed at least 22 people across the Gaza Strip, 18 of them in Gaza City, and the Gaza health ministry said hospitals in the enclave would run out of fuel in the coming few days, endangering lives.

“We are not steadfast, we are helpless. We don’t have money to leave to the south and we don’t have guarantees if we do the Israelis will not bomb us, so we are staying,” Huda, a mother of two from Gaza City, told Reuters via a chat app.

“The children tremble all the time from the sounds of explosions, we do too, they are wiping out a city that is thousands of years old and the world is celebrating a symbolic recognition of a state that won’t stop our killing.”

Israeli forces detonated explosive-laden vehicles in the suburbs of Sabra and Tel Al-Hawa as tanks made a big push towards the western side of Gaza City. Residents said the explosions destroyed dozens of homes and roads.

President Emmanuel Macron announced that France recognised Palestinian statehood at a meeting he convened with Saudi Arabia on Monday – a milestone that appeared unlikely to change much on the ground.

Israel’s ambassador to France, Joshua L Zarka, told Reuters that France’s move was perceived in Israel as a hostile decision and that trust would need to be rebuilt between Macron and Israel’s government.

The two-state solution was the bedrock of the U.S.-backed peace process ushered in by the 1993 Oslo Accords, but the process has all but died.

Israel’s government has declared there will be no Palestinian state as it fights the militant group Hamas in Gaza following its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel has drawn global condemnation over its military conduct in Gaza, where more than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to local health authorities.

Despite this, Israel has begun a ground assault on Gaza City with few prospects for a ceasefire, and wants Hamas to hand over the last hostages it seized in the 2023 attack on Israel.

Gaza City is the Gaza Strip’s capital and once housed Hamas’ most powerful battalions.

 Spain approves total arms embargo against Israel

MADRID: The Spanish government approved a total arms embargo on Israel, part of a package of measures aimed at halting what Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called “the genocide in Gaza”.

The decree prohibits all exports to Israel of defence material and dual-use products or technologies, and the import of such equipment to Spain, Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said at a news conference.

It also blocks requests for the transit of aircraft fuel with potential military applications and bans imports of products originating from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, including their advertising, Cuerpo said.

“This decree is a big step forward and is pioneering at the international level when it comes to a total arms embargo on Israel,” Cuerpo told a news conference after the cabinet approved the measure.

The government says the decree “consolidates in law” a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel that it had applied since the start of the Israeli offensive in Gaza. Monitoring Desk