Palestine: Civilians Trapped In Israel’s North Gaza Offensive

Israeli tanks thrust deeper on Monday into two north Gaza towns and a historic refugee camp, trapping around 100,000 civilians, the Palestinian emergency service said, in what the military said were operations to eliminate regrouping Hamas militants.

The Israeli military said soldiers captured around 100 suspected Hamas militants in a raid into Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Jabalia camp. Hamas and medics have denied any militant presence at the hospital.

The Gaza Strip’s health ministry said at least 19 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes and bombardment on Monday, 13 of them in the north of the devastated coastal territory.

The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said that around 100,000 people were marooned in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun without medical or food supplies.

The emergency service said its operations had come to a halt because of the three-week Israeli assault into the north, an area where the military said it had wiped out Hamas combat forces earlier in the year-long war.

Talks led by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar to broker a ceasefire resumed on Sunday after multiple abortive attempts, with Egypt’s president proposing an initial two-day truce to exchange four Israeli hostages of Hamas for some Palestinian prisoners, to be followed by talks within 10 days on a permanent ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the latest meetings in Doha focused on a new outline that takes into account previous proposals and regional developments.

He said mediators would resume talks in the coming days “in a continued attempt to advance a deal” without elaborating.

To date, Israel has repeatedly said the war will go on until Hamas is eradicated while the Islamist movement has ruled out and ends up fighting until Israeli forces leave Gaza.

Wider Conflict
Gaza’s war has kindled wider conflict in the Middle East, raising concern about global oil supplies, with Israel carrying out bombings across Lebanon and sending forces into its south in an offensive to disable Iran-backed Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas.

It has also triggered rare direct clashes between regional arch-foes Israel and Iran. At the weekend, Israeli warplanes pounded missile production sites in Iran in retaliation for an Oct. 1 Iranian missile volley at Israel.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said that on Monday, Tehran would “use all available tools” to respond to Israel’s weekend attack.

Reuters/Shakirat Sadiq