At least 20 Palestinians, including 8 aid seekers killed, 2 starved to death as Israel intensify attacks on Gaza City
The intensified attacks come as Israel refused to respond to a ceasefire proposal put forward by Egypt and Qatar, which was accepted by the Palestinian group Hamas.
The proposal contains only slight modifications to an earlier one advanced by the United States and accepted by Israel, according to an Associated Press report citing Egyptian and Hamas officials.
That US proposal was for a 60-day ceasefire, during which some of the remaining Israelis held at Gaza would be released and the sides would negotiate a permanent ceasefire and the return of the rest.
"We are not waiting. We have begun the preliminary actions, and already now, IDF (army) troops are holding the outskirts of Gaza City," the Israeli military said in a statement.
Gaza City residents described relentless bombardments overnight.
"The house shakes with us all night long -- the sound of explosions, artillery, warplanes, ambulances, and cries for help is killing us," one of them, Ahmad al-Shanti, told AFP.
"The sound is getting closer, but where would we go?".
Another resident, Amal Abdel-Aal, said she watched the heavy strikes on the area, a week after being displaced from her home in Gaza City's Al-Sabra neighbourhood.
"No one in Gaza has slept -- not last night, not for a week. The artillery and air strikes in the east never stop. The sky flashes all night long," she added.
Gaza civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said air strikes and artillery fire overnight targeted areas to the northwest and southeast of Gaza City.
Israel's plans for the complete occupation of Gaza have faced resistance from both inside and outside the country. Several countries have called for an end to the genocidal war, which has so far killed at least 62,000 Palestinians, more than half of them being women and children. Israel has also targeted and killed at least 270 journalists, over 1000 healthcare workers and aid workers.
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