Israel-Hamas conflict: Israeli forces enter deep into Gaza city

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces pushed deeper into the Gaza Strip’s largest city on Monday in a hunt for regrouped militants, driving thousands of Palestinians from the area that was devastated in the first weeks of the Gaza Strip. They went. The struggle lasted for nine months,

The two sides acknowledged that Hamas had warned that the original raid and disengagement in Gaza Town could lead to the failure of long-running talks on a ceasefire and the release of hostages. Distances reduced in recent times,

Israeli troops were again clashing with militants in areas the military said had been largely wiped out months earlier in northern Gaza. The army ordered evacuations ahead of the raid, but Palestinians said they did not feel safe anywhere. A population of 23 lakh has been displaced, regularly more than once. there are thousands of people Packed into hot tent camps,

Israel ordered the evacuation of northern Gaza within the first weeks of the conflict and has prevented most Gazans from returning. However, thousands of Palestinians live in shelters or shell homes.

“We fled in the darkness amid heavy attacks,” said Saeeda Abdel-Baki, a mother of three who took refuge with relatives in the Daraj community. “This is my fifth displacement.”

Civilians reported artillery and tank fire, in addition to air strikes. Gaza’s health ministry, with limited access rights to the north, did not immediately record casualties.

Israel issued additional evacuation orders for civilians in alternative areas of central Gaza City. The army said its decision reflected that militants from Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad group were in the area, and civilians were asked to evacuate to the city of Deir al-Balah in the south.

Israel has accused Hamas and other militants of hiding among civilians. In Shijaiyah, a Gaza Town community that has seen weeks of fighting, the army said troops raided and destroyed schools and a sanatorium that had been transformed into terrorist compounds.

The conflict has destroyed large swaths of the city and led to a humanitarian emergency.

barriers to doing business

Israel and Hamas appear to be the closest they have come to agreeing a cease-fire deal in months that would allow a reprieve in fighting in exchange for the release of dozens of hostages captured by Hamas in the October 7 attack. Conflict.

CIA Director William Burns returned to the region on Monday for talks in Cairo, according to Egypt’s state-owned Cairo TV, which supplies security services and products. Israeli media reported that an Israeli delegation was also headed to the Egyptian capital.

Although obstacles remain, Hamas has relented on its main call for Israel to end the conflict as part of any term. A key part of that change, officials told The Related Press, This is the extent of the destruction caused by Israel’s increasing aggression,

According to two officials with knowledge of the talks, Hamas still wants mediators to stipulate that the talks end with a permanent ceasefire. The Wave Draft states that the mediators – the US, Qatar and Egypt – will “use their best efforts” to ensure that a negotiated end to the conflict occurs.

Israel does not welcome any occupation that could force it to end the conflict with Hamas – A Netanyahu reiterated the position on Sunday,

Hamas said on Monday it was “offering flexibility and positivity” to facilitate trade, accusing top Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “placing more obstacles in the way of negotiations.”

Meanwhile, Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s leading political leader, warned mediators of “catastrophic consequences” if Israel continued its offensive into Gaza Town, while Netanyahu and the military declared “full responsibility” for the breakdown of talks. , the group said in the next comment.

The two officials said there is also a standoff over whether Hamas can choose high-profile prisoners held by Israel whom it wants to release in exchange for hostages. Some prisoners were convicted of murdering Israelis, and Israel no longer wants Hamas to decide who is spared. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about sensitive negotiations with the media.

Bombing helps keep responders away from our bodies

Within Gaza, civilians saw a negative end to their struggle.

Maha Mahfouz fled her home in the Zaytoun community of Gaza Town along with her two children and several neighbors. He said his area was not included in the original evacuation orders, but “we are nervous because the bombings and shootings are very close to us.”

Fadel Naeem, director of Al-Ahli Medical Institute, said patients fled the facility despite there being a negative evacuation order for the order section. He said people in serious condition were taken to alternative hospitals in northern Gaza.

Indonesian health center director Marwan Al-Sultan said it won 80 patients and injured people from Al-Ahli, who were packed into “every corner”.

“Many cases require immediate surgery. Many cases suffer direct gunshot wounds to the head and require intensive care. Fuel and medical supplies are running low,” he said in a text message. He said the hospital also recovered 16 bodies killed in the Israeli incursion, including women and children.

Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesman for civil protection first responders who work under the Hamas-run government, said the neighborhoods of Tufah, Daraj and Shijaiya have become inaccessible due to Israeli bombardment. In an emotional message, he said the army shelled properties in the Jaffa section of Gaza Town and that first responders “saw people lying on the ground and were not able to evacuate them.”

More than 38,000 people have been killed in Gaza in the conflict, according to the health ministry, which does not distinguish between warring parties and civilians in its calculations.

According to the Israeli government, a Hamas cross-border attack on October 7 killed 1,200 people in southern Israel, most of them civilians. The militants took about 250 people hostage. About 120 are still in captivity, some thirds are reported dead.

,

Magee reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Abby Sewell in Beirut and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel contributed to this record.

,

Go here to find additional AP security https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war