The Israeli army yesterday said it bombed scores of targets in the Gaza Strip as diplomats pressed on with efforts to halt the fighting that according to Hamas has killed 20,000 people in the Palestinian territory.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths called the surging death toll a “tragic and shameful milestone,” as the UN Security Council was to again discuss a draft resolution calling for a pause in the bloodiest ever Gaza war.
The army said its aircraft had struck another 230 targets in besieged Gaza over the past day, including a rocket launch site and a compound in the southern city of Khan Yunis, while ground forces had found weapons inside a school in Jabalia near Gaza City.
Photo: AFP
The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250.
The Hamas’ media office on Wednesday said at least 20,000 people had been killed in the Palestinian territory, with 8,000 children and 6,200 women among the dead.
In the southern city of Rafah, a center for many internally displaced Palestinians, fireballs and smoke rose after explosions on Wednesday.
“I wish for a complete ceasefire, and to put an end to the series of deaths and suffering,” said one resident, Kassem Shurrab, 25. “It’s been more than 75 days.”
Hopes that Israel and Hamas could be inching toward another truce and hostage release deal have risen this week as the head of the Palestinian militant group visited Egypt and talks were held in Europe. Mossad Director David Barnea held a “positive meeting” in Warsaw with CIA Director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, a source familiar with the talks said.
However, the stated positions of Israel and Hamas remain far apart.
A Hamas official said that “a total ceasefire and a retreat of the Israeli occupation army from the Gaza Strip are a precondition for any serious negotiation” on a hostage-prisoner swap.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there could be no ceasefire in Gaza before the “elimination” of Hamas.
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