Virtually 30,000 Palestinians have been killed within the struggle, Gaza medical officers say (File)
Gaza:
Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen clashed all through the Gaza Strip over the weekend, either side mentioned on Sunday, as mediating international locations sought widespread floor for a attainable ceasefire that might launch hostages held by Hamas.
Prospects for securing any truce seemed unsure, nonetheless, with Israel saying it was, in parallel, planning to increase its sweep to destroy Hamas, whereas the Islamist faction stood agency on its demand for a everlasting finish to the practically five-month-old struggle.
Residents mentioned Israeli forces shelled a number of areas of the enclave as tanks rolled into Beit Lahiya and troopers and gunmen waged working battles within the Zeitoun sector of Gaza Metropolis – each within the north, which had been conquered early within the offensive.
A minimum of 86 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since Saturday, medics mentioned. Israel’s navy mentioned two troopers died in combating in southern Gaza and that its forces had killed or captured a number of Palestinian gunmen in Zeitoun and elsewhere.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his struggle cupboard for a briefing late on Saturday by intelligence chiefs who returned from a gathering with Qatari, Egyptian and US mediators in Paris a few attainable second Gaza ceasefire.
Truce Talks
The primary pause in combating, in November, noticed the discharge of round half of the 253 folks Hamas seized throughout an October 7 cross-border killing spree that sparked the struggle. In that deal, Israel freed 3 times the variety of Palestinians from its safety prisons and admitted extra humanitarian help to Gaza.
Israeli media, citing unnamed officers, carried reviews of a framework for the return of round a 3rd of the 130 hostages nonetheless in Gaza over a six-week truce masking the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. There was no formal affirmation from both facet.
Palestinian officers mentioned Hamas was insisting on Israel calling off the offensive and withdrawing forces underneath any deal. Israel signalled intent to maneuver into one of many final cities the place Hamas, which is sworn to its destruction, has intact forces.
“We’re working to realize one other framework for the discharge of our abductees, in addition to the completion of the elimination of the Hamas battalions in Rafah,” Netanyahu mentioned on Fb, referring to the city within the far south of Gaza close to the border with Egypt.
This week, he added, the Israeli safety cupboard would approve navy plans for Rafah – together with the evacuation of greater than one million displaced Palestinian civilians who’ve been sheltering there, and whose destiny worries world powers.
Virtually 30,000 Palestinians have been killed within the struggle, Gaza medical officers say. The Hamas raid of October 7 killed 1,200 folks in Israel, which has additionally misplaced 241 troopers in Gaza floor combating that adopted, based on official tallies.
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