Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said conditions for achieving a ceasefire in Gaza have improved.
At least 42 people were killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip, medical sources told Tel Aviv Tribune Arabic, as Israeli forces intensified their shelling on central areas and tanks moved deeper into the north and south of the enclave.
Six people were killed in two airstrikes on a house and near the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, while four others were killed when an Israeli strike hit a motorcycle in Khan Younis, in the south, the Reuters news agency reported on Thursday. , citing doctors.
Later, an Israeli airstrike near a tent camp housing displaced families in eastern Khan Younis killed at least five people and injured others.
In the Nuseirat refugee camp, Israeli military planes carried out several air attacks, destroying a multi-story building and hitting roads outside mosques. At least 11 people were killed in the strikes, according to health officials at the camp’s al-Awda hospital.
They said in a statement that dozens of families were trapped in their homes after tanks advanced from the northern area of the camp and ambulances were unable to reach them due to continued tank fire.
As Israel intensified its bombing of the besieged territory, the United Nations warned that more than two million people were trapped in the Gaza Strip, with little access to food and without access to clean water.
“Food is scarce and famine is imminent. Most of Gaza’s water supply is unsafe to drink. With nowhere to go, families are living in abandoned houses or in the open,” the UN said.
Reporting from central Gaza, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said families had been living for days only on drinking water and dates.
“In addition, civilians reported that members of their families had been buried under the rubble of their homes after being targeted by Israeli artillery and warplanes, without being able to be rescued,” he said. -he added.
Israel’s war on Gaza continued to rage a day after Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah entered into a ceasefire, ending more than a year of fighting and raising hope among many many Palestinians in Gaza of a similar agreement between Israel and Hamas, which governs the enclave.
Months of efforts to negotiate a ceasefire have yielded little progress.
Announcing the agreement in Lebanon on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said he would now renew his efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza, while urging Israel and Hamas to seize the opportunity.
On Thursday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that conditions for reaching an agreement guaranteeing the release of Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip have improved significantly.
Asked about a possible deal during an interview with local Channel 14, Netanyahu said: “I think the conditions have changed a lot for the better.”
The Israeli assault on Gaza has killed at least 44,330 Palestinians and injured 104,933 since October 2023. Israel launched the war after at least 1,139 people were killed in attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel on 7 October 2023, and around 250 more have been captured.
