Israeli brutal strikes kills 21 people across Gaza
GAZA: Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 21 Palestinians, local health authorities said on Monday, as Israeli forces operated in Rafah near the border with Egypt, escalating a new week-long aerial and ground offensive. Health officials said Israel has killed nearly 700 Palestinians since it resumed attacks on Gaza last Tuesday, ending weeks of relative calm after a ceasefire in January. It said the deaths included at least 400 women and children.
Palestinian group Hamas said several of its senior political and security officials had also been killed. Israel says it resumed its military operations to force Hamas to release the remaining hostages it is holding in Gaza. It says it does its best to reduce harm to civilians and has questioned the death toll by health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave.
Israel's Defence Minister said his country was fighting against Hamas and not Gaza civilians. "But when Hamas fights in civilian dress, from civilian homes, and from behind civilians, it puts civilians in danger and they pay a horrible price. That is why we are urging Gazans to evacuate combat zones," Katz said on X. Hamas denies using the civilian population and property for military purposes.
In Rafah, the municipality said thousands of people were trapped inside the Tel Al Sultan area, where the Israeli military had sent some of its forces. "Contacts with the neighbourhood are cut off completely and the fate of (people) is unknown. Families are trapped among the ruins, with no water, no food, no medicine, amid a total collapse of healthcare services," it said in a statement.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said 50,000 residents remained trapped in Rafah. The Israeli military said troops had encircled Tel Al Sultan to dismantle "terror infrastructure sites and eliminate terrorists in the area." Palestinian officials on Sunday put the death toll from nearly 18 months of conflict at over 50,000. Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Palestinian fighters stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Meanwhile, Egypt has put forward a new proposal aimed at restoring the Gaza ceasefire deal, security sources said on Monday, as Palestinian health authorities said Israeli strikes have killed at least 65 people in the enclave in the past 24 hours. The proposal, made last week, follows an escalation in violence after Israel resumed air and ground operations, effectively ending a two-month period of relative calm.
The Egyptian plan calls for Hamas to release five Israeli hostages each week, with Israel implementing the second phase of the ceasefire after the first week, two security sources said. Hamas is still holding 59 hostages, with 24 of them thought to be still alive. Both the US and Hamas agreed to the proposal, the security sources said, but Israel has not yet responded. A Hamas official didn't confirm the proposed offer, but said that "several proposals are being discussed with the mediators to bridge the gap and to resume negotiations to reach common ground that would pave the way to start the second phase of the agreement."
The sources said the Egyptian proposal also includes a timeline for Israel's full withdrawal from Gaza, backed by US guarantees, in exchange for the hostages' release. Hamas has accused Israel of breaking the terms of the January ceasefire agreement but has said it is willing to negotiate a truce and was studying proposals from US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff.
UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA said 124,000 people have been displaced in Gaza in recent days. "Families carry what little they have with no shelter, no safety, and nowhere left to go. The Israeli authorities have cut off all aid. Food is scarce and prices are soaring. This is a humanitarian catastrophe. The siege must end," it said on X. — Reuters
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