Israel claims to know the location of Hamas and Islamic Jihad infrastructure, operatives, weapons and detention facilities in the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza.
Israel issued an evacuation order for Gaza City, an area already largely destroyed since the start of the war in the Palestinian enclave.
The last remaining residents of the demolished town were seen leaving the area over the weekend, some pushing elderly and injured people in wheelchairs, while others carried young children on their shoulders.
The evacuation order could herald an intensification of Israeli military action in Gaza City, and residents have already reported heavy shelling to the east and south of the city.
This evacuation order comes as Ceasefire talks expected to resume this weekwith several officials saying the devastation caused by Israel’s nine-month offensive likely helped push Hamas to soften its demands.
The latter would have already dropped its long-standing demand that Israel promise to end the war permanently as part of any ceasefire dealThis sudden change has raised new hopes for progress in the negotiations being conducted under the auspices of the international community.
So far, Hamas demanded that Israeli troops leave Gaza completely and the war end, while Israel said it would not stop the war until the Palestinian militant group was completely eliminated.
Post-war governance and security control of the enclave are also contentious issues.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted on Sunday that military pressure – including Israel’s two-month offensive in the southern Gaza town of Rafah – “is what led Hamas to start negotiations”.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said thatAn Israeli negotiating team is expected to resume ceasefire talks with Hamas this week, which have been stalled for weeks.. But he also acknowledged that there were still “disagreements between the parties”.
Israel launched the war on Gaza after Hamas launched an attack on October 7, 2023, in which militants stormed the Gaza Strip and southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and abducting about 250.
Since then, Israeli ground offensives and bombings have killed more than 38,000 people in Gazaaccording to the territory’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.
The military action has also caused widespread devastation and a humanitarian crisis that has left hundreds of thousands of people homeless, without adequate medical care and on the brink of starvation, international officials say.
