Gaza civil defence says Israeli strikes kill over 30 as truce talks deadlocked
Delegations from Israel and the Palestinian militant group have now spent a week trying to agree on a temporary truce to halt 21 months of bitter fighting in the Gaza Strip.
But yesterday, each side accused the other of blocking attempts to secure an agreement at the indirect talks in the Qatari capital, Doha.
There has meanwhile been no let-up in Israeli strikes on Gaza, where most of the population of more than two million have been displaced at least once during the war.
Seven UN agencies yesterday warned that a fuel shortage had reached 'critical levels', threatening aid operations, hospital care and already chronic food insecurity.
The civil defence agency said at least 31 people were killed in Israeli strikes overnight and into the morning.
Eight people were killed in strikes on houses in Gaza City, in the north, agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said.
In the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, 10 people were killed in a strike on a house, while 10 others including eight children were killed at a water distribution point, Bassal said.
'We woke up to the sound of two large explosions,' Khaled Rayyan told AFP after a house was flattened in Nuseirat. 'Our neighbour and his children were under the rubble.'
Another resident, Mahmud al-Shami, called on the negotiators to secure an end to the war.
'What happened to us has never happened in the entire history of humanity,' he said. 'Enough.'
In southern Gaza, three people were killed when Israeli jets hit a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in the coastal Al-Mawasi area, according to the civil defence spokesman.
Forced displacement fears
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has recently intensified its operations across Gaza.
Yesterday, the military said fighter jets had hit more than 35 'Hamas terror targets' around Beit Hanun in northern Gaza.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties.
The war was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that led to 1,219 deaths, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Out of 251 people taken hostage that day, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 that the Israeli military says are dead.
Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry says that at least 57,882 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel's military reprisals. The UN considers the figures reliable.
Talks to agree a 60-day ceasefire in the fighting and hostage release were in the balance yesterday after Israel and Hamas accused each other of trying to block a deal.
Hamas wants the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, but a Palestinian source with knowledge of the talks said Israel had presented plans to maintain troops in more than 40 percent of the territory.
The source said Israel wanted to force hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into the south of Gaza 'in preparation for forcibly displacing them to Egypt or other countries'.
A senior Israeli official said Israel had demonstrated 'a willingness to flexibility in the negotiations, while Hamas remains intransigent, clinging to positions that prevent the mediators from advancing an agreement'.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is prepared to enter talks for a more lasting end to hostilities once a temporary truce is agreed, but only if Hamas disarms.
Thousands of people gathered in Israel's coastal hub of Tel Aviv yesterday calling for the release of the hostages.
'The window of opportunity... is open now and it won't be for long,' said former captive Eli Sharabi. — AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malay Mail
27 minutes ago
- Malay Mail
LeMan magazine editor held in Turkiye after Erdogan brands cartoon a ‘despicable provocation' insulting the Prophet
ISTANBUL, July 13 — The top editor of Turkey's satirical magazine LeMan has been arrested, media and lawyers said yesterday, the latest detention over accusations that the magazine had published a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed. Four magazine staffers were detained in early July over a cartoon that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has labelled a 'despicable provocation' and a 'hate crime,' warning its authors will have to answer for 'disrespecting the prophet.' The magazine and its staff have vigorously denied any link between an illustration published in the magazine, which features a person named Muhammed, and Islam's Prophet Mohammed. The name Muhammed, which has various spellings, is among the most popular names the Muslim faithful give their children. On Saturday the magazine's editor-in-chief, Aslan Ozdemir, was arrested as he flew back to Turkey from France, the MSLA human rights organisation wrote on X. Several media outlets, including the DHA agency and the T24 website, released images showing Ozdemir leaving the plane, handcuffed. The drawing in question shows two characters meeting in the sky above a city devastated by bombs. One is named Muhammed and the other Musa. Cartoonist Dogan Pehlevan said the drawing was meant 'to talk about peace' and condemned 'provocateurs.' 'I have been drawing in Turkey for many years. The first rule you learn is not to address religious issues and not to mock religion,' he told police in his deposition, according to the T24 news site. 'I have always adhered to this principle. I reject the accusations levelled against me,' he added. LeMan's editorial manager Tuncay Akgun told AFP that the drawing in question 'has nothing to do with the Prophet Mohammed. We would never take such a risk.' 'The character is a Muslim killed in Gaza. He was called Mohammed (like) over 200 million people in the Muslim world,' he said. — AFP
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
Israeli plan to relocate Gazans sparks global criticism
JERUSALEM: An Israeli proposal to relocate Gaza's civilian population into a closed 'humanitarian city' has drawn sharp criticism from international bodies, Palestinian authorities, and even domestic security officials. Defence Minister Israel Katz outlined the plan, which involves constructing a restricted zone in southern Gaza during a potential 60-day ceasefire in the ongoing conflict with Hamas. The proposed facility, intended to initially house 600,000 displaced Gazans, would eventually accommodate the entire population of over two million. Katz stated that international organisations would manage aid distribution, with Israeli forces providing security 'from a distance.' However, critics argue the plan lacks feasibility and raises ethical concerns. Opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned the estimated 10-20 billion shekel ($3-6 billion) cost, calling it a waste of public funds. Security officials reportedly dismissed the idea as a 'gigantic tent city' that could lead to renewed Israeli military rule in Gaza. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) likened the proposal to a 'concentration camp,' while Britain's Middle East minister said civilians must be allowed to return home. Palestinian officials and Hamas rejected the plan, viewing it as a precursor to forced displacement. Amnesty International warned that relocating Gazans within the territory or deporting them could constitute a war crime. Sixteen Israeli legal scholars echoed this concern in a letter to Katz. Former military intelligence officer Michael Milshtein dismissed the proposal as unrealistic, citing the lack of infrastructure in the proposed zone. 'There is only sand and fields, nothing,' he said, questioning the long-term consequences of reoccupying Gaza. - AFP
New Straits Times
2 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Six children killed while collecting water in Gaza, IDF blames missile malfunction
JERUSALEM: At least eight Palestinians, most of them children, were killed and more than a dozen were wounded in central Gaza when they went to collect water on Sunday, local officials said, in an Israeli strike which the military said missed its target. The Israeli military said the missile had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad fighters in the area but that a malfunction had caused it to fall "dozens of metres from the target." "The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians," it said in a statement, adding that the incident was under review. The strike hit a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing six children and injuring 17 others, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al-Awda Hospital. Water shortages in Gaza have worsened sharply in recent weeks, with fuel shortages causing desalination and sanitation facilities to close, making people dependent on collection centres where they can fill up their plastic containers. Hours later, 12 people were killed by an Israeli strike on a market in Gaza City, including a prominent hospital consultant, Ahmad Qandil, Palestinian media reported. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack. Gaza's health ministry said on Sunday that more than 58,000 people had been killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, with 139 people added to the death toll over the past 24 hours. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in its tally, but says over half of those killed are women and children. CEASEFIRE? US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that he was "hopeful" on Gaza ceasefire negotiations underway in Qatar. He told reporters in Teterboro, New Jersey, that he planned to meet senior Qatari officials on the sidelines of the FIFA Club World Cup final. However, negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire have been stalling, with the two sides divided over the extent of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources said at the weekend. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene ministers late on Sunday to discuss the latest developments in the talks, an Israeli official said. The indirect talks over a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire are being held in Doha, but optimism that surfaced last week of a looming deal has largely faded, with both sides accusing each other of intransigence. Netanyahu in a video he posted on Telegram on Sunday said Israel would not back down from its core demands - releasing all the hostages still in Gaza, destroying Hamas and ensuring Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel. The war began on Oct 7, 2023, when Hamas-led fighters stormed into Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages into Gaza. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages there are believed to still be alive. Families of hostages gathered outside Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem to call for a deal. "The overwhelming majority of the people of Israel have spoken loudly and clearly. We want to do a deal, even at the cost of ending this war, and we want to do it now," said Jon Polin, whose son Hersh Goldberg-Polin was held hostage by Hamas in a Gaza tunnel and slain by his captors in August 2024. Netanyahu and his ministers were also set to discuss a plan on Sunday to move hundreds of thousands of Gazans to the southern area of Rafah, in what Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has described as a new "humanitarian city" but which would be likely to draw international criticism for forced displacement. An Israeli source briefed on discussions in Israel said that the plan was to establish the complex in Rafah during the ceasefire, if it is reached. On Saturday, a Palestinian source familiar with the truce talks said that Hamas rejected withdrawal maps which Israel proposed, because they would leave around 40pct of the territory under Israeli control, including all of Rafah. Israel's campaign against Hamas has displaced almost the entire population of more than 2 million people, but Gazans say nowhere is safe in the coastal enclave. Early on Sunday morning, a missile hit a house in Gaza City where a family had moved after receiving an evacuation order from their home in the southern outskirts. "My aunt, her husband and the children, are gone. What is the fault of the children who died in an ugly bloody massacre at dawn?" said Anas Matar, standing in the rubble of the building.--REUTERS
