At least 123 Palestinians killed as Israeli army pounds Gaza City ahead of planned takeover
Israel's military pounded Gaza City on Wednesday prior to a planned takeover, with another 123 people killed in the last day, according to the Gaza health ministry, while militant group Hamas held 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, which houses more than two million Palestinians.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated an idea — also enthusiastically floated by U.S. 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," or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands fled or were forced out during the 1948 war.
WATCH | Former hostage negotiator calls Netanyahu 'biggest liar' in Israel:
Benjamin Netanyahu the 'biggest liar' in Israel: former hostage negotiator
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In a press conference with international journalists, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended his plan to take over Gaza City, claiming it's the fastest way to end Israel's military offensive in the Palestinian territory. But former hostage negotiator Gershon Baskin says Netanyahu would be the 'only winner' in that plan.
Israel's planned recapture 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 airstrike 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.
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.
Truce talks resume after international outcry
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 ends the war and pulls out. However, "laying down arms before the occupation is dismissed is impossible," the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.
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.
About half of Gaza's residents live in the Gaza City area.
Foreign ministers of 24 countries, including Canada, Britain 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.
Aid remains far from sufficient: UN and Palestinians
The Israeli military on Wednesday said that nearly 320 trucks entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings and that a further nearly 320 trucks were collected and distributed by the UN and international organizations in the past 24 hours, along with three tankers of fuel and 97 pallets of air-dropped aid.
The United Nations and Palestinians say aid entering Gaza remains far from sufficient.
The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 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.
WATCH | Norway's wealth fund to divest from more Israeli companies over Gaza war:
Norway's wealth fund to divest from more Israeli companies over war in Gaza
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Norway's $2-trillion wealth fund said Tuesday it expects to divest from more Israeli companies over the situation in Gaza and the West Bank. A review of investments began last week following media reports that the fund had built a stake of just over two per cent in an Israeli jet engine group that provides services to Israel's armed forces.
Arab states and much of the international community want postwar Gaza to be governed by the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited governance in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The authority's foreign minister, Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, told reporters it was ready to assume full responsibility in Gaza. Hamas would have no role and be required to hand over arms, she added, calling for an international peacekeeping force and withdrawal by Israel.
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