Description: Israeli ground forces, following an evacuation warning issued on 20 Jul, have entered the city of Deir al – Balah in the central region of the Gaza Strip. Tanks and soldiers conducted raids on buildings and other infrastructure where according to the official statement from the IDF, the country’s military was dismantling terrorist infrastructure and had previous knowledge that some of the hostages were held in those locations. Humanitarian organizations in Gaza reported the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation which is caused by the Israeli blockade on the entering of aid into the enclave. UN’s Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has stated that Deir al – Balah was one of the rare regions where Palestinians weren’t sequestered into small spaces with dire conditions, but recent numbers have shown that most of the residents started evacuating on 20 Jul due to the dire humanitarian conditions. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that their offices and local aid checkpoints were attacked by Israel’s military while the conditions on the ground were surpassing the levels of humanitarian disaster. In a separate report, Hamas has reportedly agreed towards the latest proposal for a 60 – day ceasefire and expected the agreement to come in effect later this week or next week at the latest. According to the proposal, Hamas would hand over the remaining 10 hostages and the bodies of the remaining 18 in return for Israel’s release of 150 Palestinian prisoners and 1,100 Arab prisoners. The agreement also reportedly stipulated the renewed humanitarian aid into the enclave under provisions agreed from both sides.
Impact: Israel’s constant military incursions under pretexts of dismantling Hamas while inflicting civilian casualties and aggravating the humanitarian negotiations, compromise the potential ceasefire and the eventuality of the peace agreement. Israel’s militarization of humanitarian aid has precipitated disastrous humanitarian catastrophe in the enclave which indicates the country is unlikely to remain dedicated towards any potential ceasefire until its military goals are achieved. Hamas’ reported acceptance of the latest ceasefire proposal comes on the back of more than 10 rounds of mediated talks and insurmountable pressure from the humanitarian crisis on the ground in Gaza. The latest developments fuel further skepticism in any potential ceasefire or peace initiative with the international community remaining inept towards the devastating humanitarian and security crisis in Gaza.