CAIRO: Israel struck one of the largest residential towers in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday, stepping up pressure on the last area of the enclave it has not yet invaded and where over a million displaced Palestinians are sheltering.

The 12-floor building was damaged in the strike, and residents said dozens of families were made homeless, though no casualties were reported. Israel’s military alleged the block was being used by Hamas to plan attacks on Israelis.

One of the 300 residents of the tower, which is located some 500 metres from the border with Egypt, said Israel gave them a 30-minute warning to flee the building at night.

The strike raised alarm among residents of a wider Israeli assault on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are sheltering.

Ceasefire talks stall; 82 killed in fresh Israeli attacks; US-led forces claim downing 15 drones fired by Houthis

Israel has said it plans to carry out operations in the area, which it has called Hamas’s last bastion.

Hamas on Saturday named four Israeli prisoners as having died in Israeli strikes in the enclave, though it offered no evidence.

The Israeli military, which did not immediately respond to the claim, has previously said such videos by Hamas were psychological warfare.

Ceasefire negotiations

Israeli bombardment has plunged Gaza, already reeling from a 17-year Israeli-Egyptian security blockade, into a humanitarian catastrophe.

In a speech marking Martyrs’ and Veterans’ Day in Egypt on Saturday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi said the cost of rebuilding Gaza could exceed $90 billion.

Negotiations on a ceasefire and the release of 134 prisoners still held incommunicado in Gaza seemed to stall ahead of the hoped-for deadline, the beginning of Ramazan.

A Hamas source said the group’s delegation was “unlikely” to make another visit to Cairo over the weekend for talks.

Hamas blamed the deadlock on Israel, which has refused to give guarantees to end the bombing or pull its forces out of Gaza.

Gaza’s health ministry said at least 82 people were killed in Israeli attacks since Friday evening. Medics said 23 people were killed in Khan Yunis and that in northern Gaza Israeli fire killed a Palestinian fisherman along the beach.

15 drones shot down

In another development, the United States and its allies claimed they had shot down 15 drones fired by Yemen’s Houthis into the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden on Saturday, in one of the largest attacks by Houthis.

Shortly afterwards, the Houthis claimed an attack, saying they had fired missiles at an “American” commercial ship and launched drones at US warships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

The US Central Command, or Centcom, said the “large-scale” Houthi attack occurred before dawn in the Red Sea and adjacent Gulf of Aden.

Centcom determined that the drones “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels, US Navy and coalition ships in the region”.

It added, in a post on social media platform X that “US Navy vessels and aircraft, along with multiple coalition navy ships and aircraft, shot down 15” of the drones.

“These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure.” Military spokesman Yahya Saree, also on X, said the Houthis had carried out two separate attacks.

The first targeted the commercial vessel Propel Fortune in the Gulf of Aden, he said, calling it an “American” ship. Vessel tracking websites describe the bulk carrier as Singapore-flagged, but did not report its current position.

The second saw “37 drones” fired at “a number of American” warships, Saree said.

France’s defence ministry said on Saturday its fighter jets and one warship had shot down four drones in the Gulf of Aden.

“This defensive action contributed directly to the protection of the cargo ship True Confidence (un­der Barbadian flag), which was hit on March 6 and is currently being towed away,” it said in a statement.

A ministry spokesperson confirmed the four drones were among the 15 destroyed in total by the coalition.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2024