Escalation in Gaza: 57 Killed in Israeli Airstrikes,
Officials Say
Israeli forces engaged in intense battles with Hamas fighters
across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, with Palestinian health officials reporting
that at least 57 people were killed due to Israeli airstrikes in southern and
central regions.
Hamas accused Israel of intensifying its attacks to thwart
mediation efforts by Arab countries and the United States to broker a
ceasefire. Israel, on the other hand, stated that its operations were aimed at
eliminating Hamas militants.
In Rafah, a southern border city, five Palestinians were
killed when an airstrike hit a house, according to Gaza health officials.
Nearby in Khan Younis, an airstrike killed a man, his wife, and their two
children. Later on Tuesday, another airstrike on a car in Khan Younis killed at
least 17 Palestinians and wounded 26. The strike occurred near a tented area
for displaced families in Al-Mawasi, a humanitarian-designated zone. The
Israeli military claimed the strike targeted a senior member of the Islamic
Jihad group, an ally of Hamas, and stated they were investigating reports of
civilian casualties.
Footage from the aftermath showed residents transporting
bodies on donkey carts and rickshaws to hospitals. Eyewitness Tahrir Matir, who
lives in a nearby tent, described the chaotic scene: "The car was
targeted, the blood was splashing, and shrapnel hit our tents... We screamed:
‘We need an ambulance.'"
In the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, four Palestinians were
killed in separate shelling and airstrikes. An Israeli airstrike in Sheikh
Zayed in northern Gaza killed another four. Later, an Israeli airstrike on a
UN-run school sheltering displaced families in the Nuseirat camp killed 23
people, including local journalist Mohammad Meshmesh. This incident raised the
number of journalists killed in the conflict to 160, according to the Hamas-run
Gaza government media office. The Israeli military stated it attacked a group
of "terrorists" operating from the school, claiming steps were taken
to mitigate civilian risk.
The Israeli government has vowed to dismantle Hamas
following an attack on southern Israeli communities on October 7, which
resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people and the taking of over 250 hostages.
Since the retaliatory offensive began, Gaza health authorities report that at
least 38,713 Palestinians have been killed, while Israel reports 326 of its
soldiers have died in the conflict.
Amid the ongoing violence, relatives gathered at Al-Aqsa
Hospital in Deir Al-Balah to bid farewell to their loved ones. Elderly
Palestinian Sahar Abu Emeira expressed the community's desperation: "We’re
exhausted, we’re devastated, we are extremely tired, our patience is
over."
Negotiations to end the conflict stalled on Saturday after
three days of talks failed to yield a resolution. A senior Palestinian official
involved in the negotiations revealed that Hamas did not want to be perceived
as abandoning the talks despite the increased Israeli attacks. According to the
official, Hamas believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is
attempting to avoid a deal by imposing additional conditions, such as restricting
the return of displaced people to northern Gaza and maintaining control over
the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated
that two senior advisers to Netanyahu confirmed Israel's commitment to reaching
a ceasefire.
