Gaza medical official says nearly 30,000 Palestinians killed in war (File)
Gaza:
Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen clashed in the Gaza Strip over the weekend, both sides said on Sunday, as mediators sought common ground for a possible ceasefire to release hostages held by Hamas.
However, prospects for a ceasefire look uncertain, with Israel saying it plans to expand its strikes to destroy Hamas and Islamists steadfast in their demands for a permanent end to the nearly five-month-old war.
Residents said Israeli forces shelled areas of the enclave, tanks rolled into Beit Lahiya and soldiers and gunmen engaged in fierce fighting in Gaza City’s Zeitoun district – both areas to the north where the offensive It was occupied early on.
Medics say at least 86 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since Saturday. The Israeli military said two soldiers were killed in fighting in southern Gaza and that Israeli forces killed or captured several Palestinian gunmen in Zeitoun and elsewhere.
Later on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his war cabinet to be briefed by intelligence chiefs. Intelligence chiefs held meetings in Paris with Qatari, Egyptian and US mediators over a possible second ceasefire in Gaza.
armistice negotiations
In November, fighting was paused for the first time and about half of the 253 people Hamas captured during the Oct. 7 cross-border massacre that sparked the war were released. In the deal, Israel released three times the number of Palestinians from security prisons and allowed more humanitarian aid to be delivered to Gaza.
Israeli media, citing unnamed officials, reported that about a third of the 130 hostages in the Gaza Strip would be repatriated during a six-week truce during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. There has been no official confirmation from either side.
Palestinian officials say Hamas insists that Israel call off its offensive and withdraw its troops under any deal. Israel has expressed interest in entering one of the last towns where Hamas has a full force, and Hamas has vowed to destroy it.
“We are working to reach another framework to release the kidnapped and complete the elimination of the Hamas camp in Rafah,” Netanyahu said on Facebook. Egypt.
He added that this week, Israel’s security cabinet would approve military plans for Rafah, including the evacuation of more than a million displaced Palestinian civilians who have been sheltering there, whose fate worries world powers.
Gaza medical officials say nearly 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war. According to official statistics, Hamas’s attack on October 7 killed 1,200 Israelis, and Israel also lost 241 soldiers in the subsequent ground fighting in Gaza.
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