Israel reported an attack in the Gaza Strip on Monday as Palestinians celebrated the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The ongoing violence comes after weeks of talks between Egypt, the United States and Qatar to secure a new ceasefire between Israel and militant group Hamas ahead of Ramadan that would include the release of hostages held by Gaza militants and the release of Palestinians by Israel. people. prisoner.
Hamas negotiators left talks in Cairo last week saying ceasefire talks would resume this week.
The Israeli military said its operations included airstrikes and ground attacks in Khan Younis and other areas of southern Gaza, as well as central Gaza.
Gaza’s health ministry said on Monday that 67 people had been killed in Israel’s offensive over the past day, taking the death toll to at least 31,112 since the war began in October.
A U.S. warship is heading to the Mediterranean to start building a temporary dock on the Gaza coastline to provide passage for more trucks to deliver humanitarian aid to hungry Palestinians, but officials say it could take up to two months. The facility was built and put into operation.
The ultimate plan is to send more food and medical supplies from nearby Cyprus to a temporary terminal in Gaza after Israeli forces inspect the cargo to ensure it does not contain weapons belonging to Hamas militants.
The temporary terminal is needed because Gaza has no port infrastructure and has been under an Israeli naval blockade since Hamas took control of the enclave in 2007. From that time on, very few ships arrived directly by sea.
A Spanish charity ship carrying food aid is expected to set sail from Cyprus soon. NGO Open Arms said its ships would carry 200 tons of food, and its partner, the US charity World Central Kitchen, would unload the cargo on the Gaza coast, where it has built a basic terminal.
The conflict began on October 7, when Hamas launched a shocking terrorist attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of about 250 hostages, according to Israeli statistics.
The United Nations has warned that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are starving, and due to Israeli restrictions and security concerns, the number of aid trucks entering Gaza by land every day in the past five months has been far lower than the 500 a day that entered before the war.
U.S. Central Command and the Royal Jordanian Air Force conducted a joint humanitarian aid airdrop into northern Gaza on Sunday, dropping more than 11,500 meals and other food items including rice, flour, pasta and canned goods into the area.
But officials say airdrops are not enough to meet Gaza’s huge food needs. Days earlier, five people had been killed after being struck by food trays.
This report contains information from The Associated Press, Reuters and AFP.
