Israel Bombs Gaza, Killing 25 in Fiercest Week of War

Photo: Reuters

Cairo/Gaza:

Israel bombarded Gaza City during a week that residents described as the fiercest battle of the war, while a Palestinian Islamic Jihad official reported on Thursday that the latest round of peace talks ended without any agreements.

For the past 10 months, Israel has been bombarding the Gaza Strip in a war that has devastated the territory and killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's medical authorities.

On Thursday, Israeli airstrikes killed at least six people in Gaza City and 19 in other parts of the Gaza Strip, as reported by Palestinian authorities. The civil emergency service noted that the bodies of at least 30 Palestinians killed in the past three days lay scattered on unreachable roads in Gaza City.

Despite ongoing peace talks, no agreements have been reached. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of making demands that contradicted a framework deal brokered by Washington. Netanyahu did not specify what those demands were.

In a statement, Hamas said mediators had not provided updates on the state of the talks since it made concessions last week in response to a U.S.-backed Israeli peace offer.

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Washington is pushing for a peace deal at talks in Egypt and Qatar to end the 10-month Gaza war. The head of Israel's Shin Bet intelligence agency was headed to Cairo to pursue negotiations, Netanyahu's office stated.

In Washington, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan acknowledged that many details still need to be resolved to secure a deal.

In its statement on Thursday, Hamas accused Israel of "stalling to buy time to foil this round of negotiations, as it has done in previous rounds," all of which have ended in failure since a week-long truce in November.

As peace talks dragged on, Gaza City residents endured a fierce night of bombing. Home to more than a quarter of Gaza's residents before the war, Gaza City was largely destroyed in late 2023. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have returned to homes in the ruins. Israel has once again ordered them to leave, though it is unclear where they can go safely. Israel controls most of Gaza's borders.

Many residents say they will not leave.

"We will die but not leave to the south. We have tolerated starvation and bombs for nine months, and we are ready to die as martyrs here," said Mohammad Ali, 30, via text message. Ali, whose family has relocated several times within the city, said they had been running short of food, water, and medicine.

"The occupation (Israel) bombs Gaza City as if the war was restarting. We hope there will be a ceasefire soon, but if not, then it is God's will."

The Israeli army told Gaza City residents on Wednesday to use two "safe routes" to head south. Some residents posted a hashtag on social media: "We are not leaving."

Asked by Reuters to comment on its operations in Gaza City, the Israeli military said its forces were working to dismantle Hamas capabilities and that it "follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm." It claimed Hamas did not follow these same standards.

Critics have accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians, which Israel denies. Israel characterizes its actions as self-defense, although the International Court of Justice ordered Israel in January to take action to prevent acts of genocide.

Israel launched its assault on the Gaza Strip last year after Hamas-led operatives entered southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

An Israeli military report on Thursday acknowledged that it had failed to protect the citizens of one of the worst-hit communities, Kibbutz Be'eri, where more than 100 people were killed.

Palestinian Civilians Call for War to End

The negotiations in Qatar and Egypt followed significant concessions from Hamas last week, where they accepted that a truce could begin, and some hostages be released without Israel first agreeing to end the war.

Just east of Gaza City in the Shejaia suburb, residents were returning on foot to a desolate landscape of destroyed buildings after Israeli forces withdrew following a two-week offensive. The territory's main cemetery had been bulldozed by the army. People wheeled supplies on the back of bicycles across rubble-strewn tracks, passing the remains of burnt-out and blasted Israeli armored vehicles.

"We have returned to Shejaia after 15 days. You can see the destruction. They spared nothing, even trees; there was a lot of greenery in this area. What is the guilt of stones and trees? And what is my guilt as a civilian?" resident Hatem Tayeh told Reuters amid the ruins. "There are bodies of civilian people. What is the guilt of the civilian? Who are you fighting?"

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