Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeats a request for disarmament from Hamas and for his leaders to leave Gaza.
The bombardment by Israel of the Gaza Strip continued on the first day of the Muslim vacation in Eid, killing dozens of people while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shows no sign of pressure on Hamas in the middle of a new series of cease-fire talks.
Several air raids in the early hours of Sunday hit tents and houses while the Palestinians celebrated the Eid al-Fitr holidays marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. At least 35 people were killed in the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, medical sources told Tel Aviv Tribune.
Sunday murders came while Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRC) recovered the bodies of 15 Rafah medical workers who were the subject of heavy Israeli fire last week. Tel Aviv Tribune’s fact verification agency, Sanad, has obtained exclusive satellite images showing that at least five rescue vehicles were destroyed by the Israeli army in this deadly attack.
“(It is) a tragedy not only for us … but also for humanitarian work and humanity,” the PRC said in a statement, adding that the Israeli army targeting health workers “cannot be considered as a war crime”.
In the midst of violence, the humanitarian situation of the Gaza Strip continues to deteriorate because Israel has interrupted the delivery of aid to Gaza since early March.
“The Palestinians are supposed to break their fast with a very good meal (for Eid), but today they cannot get a meal – it’s devastating, the situation in Gaza,” said the posterior Khoudary of Tel Aviv Tribune, reported by Deir El -Balah.
Food in the strip is rare and very expensive, parents saying that feeding their family is an “impossible mission,” said Khoudary.
Meanwhile, the prospects of breakthrough in the cease-fire talks seem to be distant.
On Sunday, Netanyahu repeated a request for disarmament of Hamas and so that its leaders leave Gaza, while promising to put pressure on the group to release the 59 remaining captives it holds, 35 of which are considered dead.
These are part of a new set of requests presented by Israel, with the support of US President Donald Trump, to revise the terms of a three-phase ceasefire agreement signed in January.
According to the initial agreement, following the release of a first batch of captives each week, the two parties agreed to enter a second phase of negotiations to discuss a permanent end of war, the release of remaining captives and the withdrawal of Israeli Gaza troops.
But Israel insists that Hamas should release all the captives without Israel being committed to ending the war. Hamas refusing new requests, Israel has resumed bombing the band and moved troops inside the enclave.
Netanyahu also said that Israel would also be working on the implementation of Trump’s “voluntary emigration” plan for Gaza and said that his cabinet had agreed to continue pressure on Hamas, who said he accepted a new cease-fire proposal for the mediators of Egypt and Qatar.
Sami Abu Zuhri, head of Hamas, said that Netanyahu’s comments were a recipe for “endless escalation” in the region.
Netanyahu rejected the affirmations that Israel did not negotiate, saying: “We drive it under fire, and therefore it is also effective”.
“We see that there are suddenly cracks,” he said in a video press release published on Sunday.
Khalil Al-Hayya, the head of Hamas in Gaza, said that the group had accepted a proposal which, according to security sources, included the release of five Israeli captives each week. But he said that putting his arms as Israel asked was a “red line” that the group would not cross.
