Israeli forces advanced further into the central and southern Gaza Strip as they continue their relentless pounding of Palestinians in the enclave.
Palestinian health officials reported Thursday that Israeli airstrikes had claimed the lives of at least 22 people across the region.
This latest escalation follows U.S. President Joe Biden’s urgent call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a swift resolution to secure a truce in Gaza and facilitate the release of hostages, according to the White House.
Despite months of intermittent negotiations on a ceasefire, both Israel and Hamas remain steadfast in their demands, leading to repeated deadlock.
In the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, a strike on a house killed 11 people, while another strike killed six, including a local journalist, in a house in al-Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip, medics said.
Five others were killed in separate strikes in the south.
The Israeli military said its forces had intensified their operations in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, and Khan Younis, in the south, dismantling dozens of Hamas structures.
It said forces killed 50 Hamas members in the area of Rafah, in the far south of the enclave, over the past day.
A phone call between Biden and Netanyahu late Wednesday followed a whirlwind trip to the region by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that ended Tuesday without producing a breakthrough in the 10-month-old war.
Hamas wants a deal that ends the war in Gaza and releases Israeli and foreign hostages in Gaza in return for the freedom of many Palestinians jailed by Israel.
It blames Israel and the U.S. for the failure to conclude a deal.
Netanyahu says the war will only end once Hamas is defeated and that a ceasefire to allow the exchange of hostages and prisoners would be only a temporary pause.
Tanks and drones
In the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah, which houses around 1 million residents and displaced Palestinians, according to the municipal council, residents said tanks advanced further from the east and blocked some roads connecting the city with the nearby Khan Younis in the south.
Israeli tanks have also advanced to the west, in al-Karara and Hamad areas of Khan Younis, pushing more families out of their shelters and tents, sometimes under heavy fire from tanks and drones, residents said.
Some families slept on the roads, others on the beach after failing to find space or shelter.
“Last night, drones began firing toward the tents. We ducked down for maybe hours, then the noise of tanks got louder as they advanced closer, so we decided to run,” Imad al-Ghalayeeni, 48, told Reuters by phone from Khan Younis.
“We are five families, 48 people. We ran to the beach; some slept on the road, others slept on the sand with no tents, no blankets or mattresses. You can imagine how terrified the children and women were,” he added.
Ghalayeeni said there was growing disillusionment among Palestinians in Gaza about the cease-fire talks.
“These talks are time-wasting, and they aim to give Netanyahu the time he needs to continue what he is doing. There is no place the tanks haven’t entered or bombed, and there is nowhere safe anymore,” he said.
Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has been displaced multiple times since the start of the war.
Even in areas designated as safe zones, there have been regular reports of casualties from Israeli strikes.
Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 40,000 people in Gaza since October, according to Palestinian health authorities.
The latest conflict began on Oct. 7 following Hamas’ incursion on southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages.
