Israel boosts Gaza attacks 35%

Israel has stepped up attacks in Gaza in the five weeks since April 8, when its joint bombing campaign with the United States against Iran was paused, according to Reuters reporting and conflict-monitoring data. ACLED, which tracks political violence, said Israeli attacks in Gaza rose 35% in April from March. Gaza’s Health Ministry said 120 Palestinians, including eight women and 13 children, were killed in the period after April 8, a 20% increase from the previous five weeks. The increase has played out alongside stalled ceasefire diplomacy. Nickolay Mladenov, the envoy overseeing the U.S.-brokered Gaza truce, said on May 13 that the deadlock over Hamas’ weapons had blocked movement on reconstruction and other parts of the deal. The result is a ceasefire that remains in force on paper while military operations and daily casualties continue on the ground. (al-monitor.com) ### Why did attacks rise after the Iran front cooled? April 8 marked the pause in the Iran war, and Reuters reported that Israel then redirected military pressure back toward Gaza. Israeli officials say Hamas fighters have been regrouping and tightening their grip inside the enclave, and the military has framed renewed attacks as a response to rearmament and militant activity. (pbs.org) ACLED’s April report provided the clearest single measure of that shift. The monitor said Israeli attacks in Gaza were 35% higher in April than in March, indicating that the reduction in fighting with Iran did not produce a parallel easing in Gaza. ### What is happening around Rafah’s field hospital? Rafah’s Red Cross field hospital has been operating beyond capacity almost daily, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. (al-monitor.com) The ICRC said the 60-bed hospital, described as the last fully operational hospital in the Rafah area, has faced a sustained influx of patients with gunshot wounds. (aljazeera.com) The ICRC said the vast majority of injuries it treated in the period it described were caused by gunfire. That account has reinforced reports from Gaza of repeated shooting near aid routes and around southern Gaza, even as negotiators continued to describe the broader arrangement as a ceasefire. ### What is blocking the next phase of the ceasefire? (icrc.org) Nickolay Mladenov said on May 13 that Hamas does not have to vanish as a political movement, but armed groups must disarm for the ceasefire to advance. Associated Press reporting said he described demilitarization as the sticking point holding up reconstruction of Gaza and other commitments in the next phase. (icrc.org) The second phase, as described in AP-based reports, was supposed to include Hamas handing over weapons, Israeli forces withdrawing, and rebuilding destroyed areas of Gaza. Hamas has resisted disarmament demands and has accused Israel of violating the truce, while Israeli officials have said they will not move forward without security guarantees. (pbs.org) ### How do the casualty figures fit into the diplomacy? Gaza’s Health Ministry said 120 Palestinians were killed after April 8, including eight women and 13 children. Reuters reported that figure was 20% higher than in the five weeks before the Iran pause, when Israel was also flying sorties over Iran. (aljazeera.com) Lafi Al-Najjar, a 36-year-old Palestinian cited by Reuters, said one of his sons was killed in an Israeli attack on April 28. His account underscored the gap between diplomatic language and conditions in Gaza, where residents and medical staff continue to report regular strikes and shootings. ### What happens next in the talks? (today.lorientlejour.com) May 13 was the date Mladenov publicly acknowledged that the truce had stalled, and no breakthrough on disarmament was announced that day. The next steps remain tied to the same unresolved sequence described by negotiators: Hamas disarmament, Israeli withdrawal terms, and a reconstruction mechanism for Gaza. (usnews.com) U.S.-backed mediation is still the formal channel for the talks, and Mladenov remains the named envoy pressing the parties on the next phase. Until those terms are settled, the ceasefire framework and the battlefield are likely to continue moving on separate tracks, according to the positions laid out publicly by the parties and mediators. (pbs.org)