Heavy Israeli airstrikes kill dozens of people in central Gaza as mediators from the US, Qatar and Egypt plan to resume talks.
Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in heavy Israeli shelling in the central Gaza Strip, as US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators plan to resume talks on a proposed ceasefire and prisoner release agreement.
Urban fighting and shelling rocked the southern Gaza city of Rafah near the Egyptian border, while fighting also reignited in central areas, where the Israeli army said “troops began targeted operational activities in the areas of Bureij and eastern Gaza. Deir el-Balah, both above and below ground.”
A medical source told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that at least 75 people had been killed in Israeli strikes in central Gaza over the past day. Sources also told Al Jazeera that morgues in the central city of Deir el-Balah were full while the local Al-Aqsa Hospital was operating at three times its capacity.
In a statement, the Israeli army said it struck “terrorist targets” in the area, killing “several” members of the Palestinian group Hamas.
Nearly eight months after the start of Israel’s war in Gaza, global outrage has grown over the rising death toll – exceeding 36,500 – and destruction in the besieged and bombed territory, where United Nations data suggests more than half of all buildings are destroyed or damaged.
Three-phase plan
On May 31, US President Joe Biden outlined what he called a three-phase Israeli plan, proposing to halt fighting for six weeks while Israeli captives held in Gaza are exchanged for Palestinian prisoners and aid is stepped up in first phase.
Regional and international powers supported the proposal, although points of contention remain – Hamas insists on a permanent ceasefire and Israel’s total withdrawal, demands that Israel has rejected.
Biden urged Hamas to accept the deal and tapped CIA chief Bill Burns as Qatar’s mediator for a renewed push after months of back-and-forth negotiations.
A source with knowledge of the talks told the AFP news agency that Burns “will continue to work with mediators to reach an agreement between Hamas and Israel on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages.”
Brett McGurk, Biden’s top Middle East adviser, was also heading to Qatar, according to news website Axios, which cited sources who spoke of a “full court press… to get a breakthrough.”
Egyptian state-linked Al-Qahera News said an “Egyptian security delegation will meet with their Qatari and US counterparts in Doha on Wednesday to discuss the mechanism for restoring truce talks.”
Qatar said on Tuesday that it had not yet seen statements from either side “that give us much confidence” but added that it was “working with both sides on the proposals that are on the table.”
Biden previously told Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani that “Hamas is now the only obstacle to a complete ceasefire” and “confirmed Israel’s readiness to move forward” with the terms he set out last week.
A senior Hamas official in Beirut on Tuesday accused Israel of pursuing “endless” truce talks and repeated the group’s position rejecting any deal that excludes a permanent ceasefire.
Sultan Barakat, a professor of public policy at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, said the situation remains “very confusing” days after the US president’s proposal.
“Biden announced something that some Israelis say he shouldn’t have announced, some say he announced it without our approval and there is a view that perhaps he announced it with the approval of Gantz, as opposed to Netanyahu and Gallant, the others two members of the war. cabinet,” Barakat told Al Jazeera.
“It shows that there may be a division within Israel as to what direction they can take,” he added.
Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7 have killed at least 36,586 people and injured 83,074, with thousands missing under the rubble and presumed dead, according to health authorities. Israel launched its attack on Gaza after a Hamas-led attack in southern Israel killed around 1,140 people.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
