As the Muslim community marked the conclusion of Ramadan, Israeli military operations in Gaza continued unabated, coinciding with critical remarks from US President Joe Biden regarding Israel’s conduct in the ongoing conflict.
The region, under the strain of over six months of warfare following Hamas’s October 7 assaults, saw Palestinians in Gaza observing Eid al-Fitr prayers amidst destruction.
In east Jerusalem, annexed by Israel, the Al-Aqsa mosque compound witnessed an influx of tens of thousands for morning prayers.
Rawan Abd, a nurse present at the site, described this Eid as the “saddest ever,” noting a palpable sense of mourning among the attendees.
The Al-Aqsa mosque, a site of profound religious significance for Muslims and also revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, became a place of solace rather than celebration this year.
The Israeli military maintained its offensive, executing air strikes on Gaza following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge to continue the offensive against Hamas and secure the release of hostages.
Netanyahu emphasized the determination of Israeli forces to target Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, despite it being a refuge for many displaced Palestinians.
Amid these escalations, diplomatic efforts for peace and hostage negotiation are underway in Cairo with the participation of the US, Egypt, and Qatar.
Meanwhile, President Biden expressed severe disapproval of Netanyahu’s aggressive strategies, highlighting the extensive civilian toll and humanitarian crisis engendered by the prolonged conflict.
“I think what he’s doing is a mistake,” Biden told Spanish-language TV network Univision in an interview that aired Tuesday night after being recorded last week. “I don’t agree with his approach.”
He urged Netanyahu to “just call for a ceasefire, allow for the next six, eight weeks, total access to all food and medicine going into the country.”
The war broke out with Hamas’s October 7 attack against Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.
Palestinian militants also took about 250 hostages, 129 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli army says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,360 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Another 14 people were killed – including small children – in a strike on a home in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, the health ministry said.
The army said Wednesday that “Israeli troops are continuing to operate in the central Gaza Strip and killed a number of terrorists over the past day.”
It added that aircraft had “struck dozens of terror targets in the Gaza Strip, including military sites, launchers, tunnel shafts and infrastructure.”
Israel has imposed a siege that has deprived Gaza’s people of most food, water, fuel, medicines and other essential goods.
Humanitarian groups have accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza, where UN experts say half the population is facing “catastrophic” food insecurity.
Washington’s recent tougher line with Israel, its main ally in the region, has brought some results, according to the US Agency for International Development.
Recent days had seen a “sea change” in aid deliveries, said USAID administrator Samantha Power, with Israel reporting 468 trucks entering from Egypt on Tuesday.
However, Power stressed that Israel needs to do more, saying that “we have famine-like conditions in Gaza, and supermarkets filled with food within a few kilometres away” in southern Israel.
Washington has also resumed funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees after cutting it weeks ago after Israel claimed that some UNRWA staff took part in the October 7 attack.