Israel says Gazans free to leave as Hamas mulls ceasefire

7NEWS

2 days ago

Israel's military has pounded Gaza City before a planned takeover, with another 123 people killed in the past day, according to the Gaza health ministry, while militant group Hamas holds further talks with Egyptian mediators.
The 24-hour death toll was the worst in a week and added to the massive fatalities from the nearly two-year war that has shattered the enclave housing more than two million Palestinians.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated an idea — also enthusiastically floated by US President Donald Trump — that Palestinians should simply leave.
'They're not being pushed out, they'll be allowed to exit,' he told Israeli television channel i24NEWS.
'All those who are concerned for the Palestinians and say they want to help the Palestinians should open their gates and stop lecturing us.'
Arabs and many world leaders are aghast at the idea of displacing the Gaza population, which Palestinians say would be like another 'Nakba' (catastrophe) when hundreds of thousands fled or were forced out during a 1948 war.
Israel's planned re-seizure of Gaza City — which it took in the early days of the war before withdrawing — is probably weeks away, officials say.
That means a ceasefire is still possible though talks have been floundering and conflict still rages.
Israeli planes and tanks bombed eastern areas of Gaza City heavily, residents said, with many homes destroyed in the Zeitoun and Shejaia neighbourhoods overnight.
Al-Ahli hospital said 12 people were killed in an air strike on a home in Zeitoun.
Tanks also destroyed several houses in the east of Khan Younis in south Gaza, while in the centre Israeli gunfire killed nine aid-seekers in two separate incidents, Palestinian medics said. Israel's military did not comment.
Eight more people, including three children, have died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the territory's health ministry said.
That took the total to 235, including 106 children, since the war began.
Israel disputes those malnutrition and hunger figures reported by the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave.
Hamas chief negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya's meetings with Egyptian officials in Cairo on Wednesday were to focus on stopping the war, delivering aid and 'ending the suffering of our people in Gaza', Hamas official Taher al-Nono said in a statement.
Egyptian security sources said the talks would also discuss the possibility of a comprehensive ceasefire that would see Hamas relinquish governance in Gaza and concede its weapons.
A Hamas official told Reuters the group was open to all ideas if Israel ended the war and pulled out, but 'laying down arms before the occupation is dismissed is impossible'.
Netanyahu's plan to expand military control over Gaza, which Israeli sources said could be launched in October, has heightened global outcry over the widespread devastation, displacement and hunger in the enclave.
Foreign ministers of 24 countries, including Britain, Canada, Australia, France and Japan, said this week the humanitarian crisis in Gaza had reached 'unimaginable levels' and urged Israel to allow unrestricted aid.
Israel denies responsibility for hunger, accusing Hamas of stealing aid.
It says it has taken steps to increase deliveries, including daily combat pauses in some areas and protected routes for aid convoys.
The United Nations and Palestinians say aid entering Gaza remains far from sufficient.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza since then has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.