Thursday 11 July 2024

Dozens of Gazans killed in Israeli assault that Hamas warns may threaten truce talks.

 Extract from ABC News

Posted 
A tank drives down an unsealed road as the sun rises against an orange-pink sky, smoke rises from the city in the background
Israel has intensified its offensive on Gaza with air strikes and tanks pushing into several Gaza City neighbourhoods.()

In short:

Palestinian officials say an Israeli air strike that hit tents of displaced families outside a school in southern Gaza killed at least 29, while the Israeli military says it is looking into the report.

As Israel stepped up its offensive, Hamas warned recently advanced ceasefire talks could be "back to square one".

What's next?

Qatari and Egyptian mediators, backed by the United States, will resume ceasefire talks in Doha on Wednesday, local time, Egyptian state media reported.

Palestinian officials say an Israeli air strike in southern Gaza has killed dozens of people while advancing tanks in Gaza City forced residents to flee under fire.

As Israel stepped up its offensive on Tuesday, local time, Hamas warned ceasefire talks could be jeopardised.

The air strike hit the tents of displaced families outside a school in the town of Abassan east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

A man with his head bandaged and a pained expression sits on a hospital floor next to a young boy
Injured Palestinians at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, following an Israeli strike.(Reuters: Mohammed Salem)

At least 29 were killed, most of them women and children, Palestinian medical officials said. The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.

Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, said Israeli strikes on central Gaza areas killed 60 Palestinians and wounded dozens of others on Tuesday.

Residents said Israeli tanks that pushed into the Tel Al-Hawa, Shejaia and Sabra neighbourhoods of Gaza City shelled roads and buildings, forcing them to flee their homes.

This was followed by Israeli military orders to evacuate several districts in eastern and western Gaza City posted on social media, which included these neighbourhoods.

"We hold the occupation and the US administration responsible for the horrifying massacres against civilians," said Mr al-Thawabta in a statement.

On Gaza City's front lines, the armed wings of Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad said their fighters battled Israeli forces with machine guns, mortar fire and anti-tank missiles and killed and wounded Israeli soldiers.

Israel's military did not comment on casualties but said its soldiers were engaged in close-quarter combat with militants, had taken more than 150 fighters out of action in the last week and destroyed booby-trapped buildings and explosives.

Truce talks could be 'back to square one'

The latest fighting has unfolded as senior US officials were in the region to push for a ceasefire after Hamas made concessions last week.

Israel's renewed campaign threatened talks at a crucial time and could bring negotiations "back to square one", Hamas quoted leader Ismail Haniyeh as saying.

People walk carrying plastic bags and backpacks, two young boys push their bikes with two little girls sitting on the seat
Families flee areas of Gaza City under Israeli evacuation orders.(Reuters: Dawoud Abu Alkas)

Hopes among Gazans of a pause in the fighting had revived after Hamas last week accepted a key part of a US ceasefire proposal.

Qatari and Egyptian mediators, backed by the US, have accelerated efforts this week and talks will resume in Doha on Wednesday, Egypt's state-affiliated media said.

Video on social media showed families packed onto donkey carts and in the backs of trucks piled with mattresses and other belongings making their way through Gaza City's streets to flee areas under Israeli evacuation orders.

"Gaza City is being wiped out. This is what is happening. Israel is forcing us to leave homes under fire," Um Tamer, a mother of seven, told Reuters news agency via a chat app.

She said it was the seventh time her family had fled their house in Gaza City, in the north of the enclave. The city was one of Israel's first targets at the start of the war in October.

"We can't take it anymore, enough of death and humiliation. End the war now," she said.

Hunger crisis has spread across Gaza, human rights experts say

The Palestinian Red Crescent said all of its medical clinics were out of service in Gaza City due to the Israeli evacuation orders that have driven thousands of people westward towards the Mediterranean and to the south.

Four young children eat rice sitting on a blanket on the floor, two women are behind them
Nine months of war and displacement have led to a hunger crisis in Gaza.(AP Photo: Abdel Kareem Hana)

Nine months of war and displacement have caused a hunger crisis, and the recent deaths of several more children from malnutrition in the Gaza Strip indicate that famine has spread throughout the coastal enclave, a group of independent human rights experts mandated by the UN said.

In a Khan Younis hospital, Palestinian woman Ghaneyma Joma told Reuters she feared her son would starve to death.

"It's distressing to see my child … lying there dying from malnutrition because I cannot provide him with anything due to the war, the closing of crossings and the contaminated water," she said.

Ms Joma was seated on the floor next to her motionless son, who had an intravenous drip attached to his wrist.

A woman wearing a hijab sits on the hospital floor, holding hand over heart as her son lies on a blanket connected to an IV drip
Ghaneyma Joma fears her malnourished son will starve to death.(Reuters: Mohammed Salem)

Medics say more than 40 killed in air strikes

In Al-Nuseirat in central Gaza, an Israeli air strike on a multi-storey house early on Tuesday killed 17 people, including 14 children and a woman, Hamas' media office said.

Neighbours rushed to help medics and emergency workers recover bodies and search for survivors under the rubble.

Three men inspect the rubble of a multi-storey concrete house that was hit in an airstrike, palm trees in the background
A multi-storey house was destroyed in an Israeli strike in Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, killing 17 people, Hamas media office said.(Reuters: Ramadan Abed)

"They were displaced during the night after Al-Nuseirat camp school was hit … They said they would sleep in the house, fearing for the children and there was a massacre in the house. They are not safe in the schools nor the houses," said Yasser Abu Hamada, a local resident.

Across Gaza, more than 40 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airs trikes on Gaza City in the north, Al-Bureij, Deir Al-Balah and Al-Nuseirat in central Gaza and in Rafah in the south, according to medics.

The total Palestinian death toll in the nine-month-long Israeli military offensive reached 38,243, Gaza health officials said in their latest update.

The war erupted when militants led by Hamas infiltrated southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli figures.

Reuters

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