Israeli Military Intensify Gaza Bombings As Egypt Entertains Hamas

Children in Gaza are queuing for UNICEF/Mohammed Nateel

JAKARTA - Israeli forces destroyed homes in the eastern region of Gaza City, killing 11 people from air and tank fire.

While the Palestinian Islamist group, Hamas, told mediators they were ready to resume ceasefire negotiations.

Residents and medics said eight people were killed when Israeli tank fire hit a house in the Zeitoun neighborhood, while a man was killed in an airstrike on a building on the outskirts of nearby Shejaia.

Two other people were killed in tank fire in Tuffah, the third suburb of Gaza City.

Local health authorities said they had received emergency calls from families trapped in the Zeitoun area, including from people who claimed to have been injured. Reportedly, ambulances were unable to reach them.

"The explosion occurred almost non-stop in the eastern Gaza region, especially Zeitoun and Shejaia. The occupation (Israel) is destroying houses there, as we heard from several friends living nearby," said Ismail, 40, from Gaza City. , August 14th.

"At night, we pray for our safety as the sound of explosions gets louder and closer. We hope Egypt can reach a ceasefire agreement before we are all killed," he told Reuters.

More than 22 months after Israel's military offensive in Gaza, residents also grappled with an increasingly severe hunger crisis.

Four more people have died from hunger and malnutrition in the region in the past 24 hours, Gaza's Ministry of Health said on Thursday.

Thus, the total death toll has been 239 people, including 106 children, since the war began, he said.

Israel denies the unemployment and hunger rate reported by the Ministry of Health in Gaza, which was controlled by Hamas in 2007.

Israel's plans to seize Gaza City are likely to occur in a few weeks, officials said.

In a bid to prevent a planned military escalation, Egypt has tried to revive pressure for a ceasefire in Gaza, by hosting the Hamas delegation led by the group's chief negotiator, Khalil Al-Hayya.

He told mediators in Cairo on Wednesday that Hamas was ready to continue ceasefire negotiations to reach a temporary ceasefire. Hamas is also open to discussing a comprehensive deal that will end the war, Egyptian and Palestinian sources said.

The final round of indirect negotiations in Qatar ended in a stalemate at the end of July, with Israel and Hamas blaming each other for the lack of progress in the US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire and the deal to release hostages.

The gap between the two sides appears to be wide on key issues, including the extent of Israel's military withdrawal and demands that Hamas lay off its weapons.

The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and holding 251 people hostage, according to Israeli data.

Israeli attacks on Hamas in Gaza have since killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.