Israel continued air strikes on Gaza on Wednesday, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to increase pressure on Hamas, as hopes of a US-announced ceasefire plan faded.
Political leader of Hamas Ismail Haniyah He accused Israel of deliberately undermining negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of hostages because it did not want to end the war.
The Israeli military said it carried out 25 strikes in 24 hours, targeting “military structures, terrorist infrastructure, terrorist cells and fake structures”.
It said its troops were also “continuing precise, intelligence-based operational activity” around the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Netanyahu, who has repeatedly vowed to destroy Hamas, insisted on Tuesday that despite the pressure on Israel, there can be no let-up in its campaign against terrorists.
“It is time to increase the pressure even further, bring all hostages – alive and dead – back home and achieve all war objectives,” he said.
The health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said 52 people, most of them women and children, had been killed in Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours.
Dozens of people were killed and injured in several attacks in Gaza on Tuesday, the UN humanitarian office OCHA said.
Three attacks on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza killed 30 people, one on a UN-run school, another on a home and a third on a mosque, the region’s civil protection agency said.
– Talks at deadlock –
In southern Gaza, two people were killed in Israeli bombing in the Shakush area, northwest of Rafah, a medical source at Nasser Hospital said.
At least 90 percent of Gaza’s people have been driven from their homes, many of them taking refuge in UN-run schools. Seven of them have been hit by Israeli attacks since 6 July.
Nearly 70 percent of UN-run schools in Gaza have been affected by more than nine months of fighting, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.
“Why do they target us when we are innocent people?” asks Umm Mohammed al-Hassanat, who is sheltering with her family in a UN-run school in Nuseirat, and was one of those killed in the attack.
“We don’t carry weapons but just sit back and try to find safety for ourselves and our children.”
Washington has been pushing for a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas since President Joe Biden released details of Israel’s ceasefire roadmap on May 31.
But despite the efforts of mediators from Egypt and Qatar, indirect talks between the two foes have made no progress.
In a telephone conversation with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan late Tuesday, the Hamas leader blamed Israel for the deadlock.
“We worked positively on the proposals put forward by the mediators, but the occupying party is avoiding the expected outcome and does not want to reach an agreement that would end its war,” Haniyeh said.
His remarks came after a senior Hamas official said on Sunday that Hamas was withdrawing from current talks following deadly Israeli attacks but was ready to return if Israel’s attitude changed.
– Hostage families demand compromise –
The war began with an unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on Israeli data.
The militants also took 251 hostages, 116 of whom are still in Gaza, 42 of whom the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel launched a retaliatory military offensive that killed at least 38,713 people, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health ministry figures.
Critics in Israel have accused Netanyahu of prolonging the war, including thousands of protesters who have taken to the streets demanding a deal to return the hostages.
The families of five Israeli female soldiers taken hostage said on Tuesday they were “begging” the prime minister to “reach a compromise.”
Ayelet Levy, whose daughter was kidnapped on 7 October, said, “We are looking forward to a face-to-face meeting with you (Netanyahu) to make sure the talks are moving in the direction of a signed agreement.”
Meanwhile, ultra-Orthodox Jewish protesters clashed with police near Tel Aviv, hours after the Israeli military said it would begin issuing draft notices to men in the community on Sunday.
Ultra-Orthodox seminary students, historically exempt from mandatory military service, are being called up as the Gaza war and potential conflict with Hezbollah put pressure on the army’s manpower and as resentment grows against those who are not required to serve.
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