Around sixty bodies were discovered Thursday under rubble in Shujaiya, an eastern district of Gaza City, after the end of a vast Israeli operation which devastated the area, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense.
In the tenth month of war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, new talks were held Thursday in Qatar, a mediator with the United States and Egypt, to try to move towards a ceasefire and the release of hostages taken during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, which triggered the war.
In the north of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army announced on Wednesday evening that it had completed its operations launched on June 27 in Shujaiya, in the east of Gaza City, which allowed the dismantling of “eight tunnels” and the elimination of “dozens of terrorists”, according to a statement.
On Thursday, residents began returning to the ruins of the neighborhood, according to AFPTV. Among them, Mohamad Nairi discovered “immense destruction” beyond “anything that could be described.”
After the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the Gaza Civil Defense reported the discovery under the rubble of “around sixty martyrs.”
“Uninhabitable”
Now, “85% of buildings [du quartier] are uninhabitable,” not to mention all the infrastructure that has been “demolished,” said Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal in a statement.
The army called on Wednesday for all residents to evacuate, some 300,000 to 350,000 people according to the UN.
In leaflets, she warned that the city, where she announced in early January that she had “completed the dismantling of the military structure” of Hamas, remained “a dangerous combat zone.”
It announced on Thursday that it was continuing its operation in the centre of Gaza City against fighters “in the headquarters of UNRWA”, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.
In Gaza City, clashes are also taking place in the south and bombings in the west, according to the army and AFP journalists.
The war broke out on October 7 after an unprecedented attack by Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza into southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data.
Of the 251 people abducted, 116 are still being held in Gaza, 42 of whom are dead, according to the army.
“Dozens of terrorists eliminated”
In response, Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, and launched an offensive that has killed 38,345 people so far, including 50 in the last 24 hours, mostly civilians, according to data from Hamas’ health ministry.
The Israeli army also indicated on Thursday that it was continuing its operations in the Rafah region (south) bordering Egypt, affirming that its troops had “eliminated dozens of terrorists”, including Hassan Abu Kouik, described as a head of the Hamas security forces who “carried out numerous terrorist attacks” against Israel.
Four dead, including a child, were taken to Nasser hospital in Rafah after Israeli raids on the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood in the west of the city, according to the hospital’s management.
In the central Gaza Strip, four people were also killed in an Israeli strike on the Nusseirat refugee camp, according to the Hamas health ministry.
The situation in the besieged territory is dire: humanitarian aid is waiting on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom checkpoint (south). The UN and Israel are blaming each other for the blockage of distributions.
Talks on a truce
On the diplomatic front, the mediators have relaunched their efforts to move towards a ceasefire.
Hamas announced a concession on Sunday, saying it would agree to negotiate the release of the hostages in the absence of a permanent ceasefire with Israel, which it had always demanded.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Wednesday his commitment to a ceasefire agreement “as long as Israel’s red lines are respected.”
Mr Netanyahu has consistently said he wants to continue the war until Hamas – considered a terrorist organisation by Israel, the United States and the European Union – is destroyed and all hostages are freed.
On Thursday night, he said his country wanted to retain control of an area of the Gaza Strip bordering Egypt, captured in early May, in order to prevent the “smuggling of weapons” to Hamas from neighboring Egypt.
This demand to keep the “Philadelphia corridor and the Rafah crossing point” is part of the “four principles” set by Israel in the framework of the negotiations for a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and the release of the hostages, said Mr. Netanyahu, while Hamas is demanding for its part the evacuation of this zone by the Israeli army.
Mossad chief David Barnea and CIA Director William Burns traveled to Doha on Wednesday for talks on a truce.
Announcing the return of the Israeli delegation from Doha on Thursday, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced that “a delegation led by the head of the Shin Bet [l’agence israélienne de la sécurité intérieure] and representatives of the Israeli army are due to leave for Cairo this evening to continue the talks.”
A leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement, Hossam Badran, told AFP on Wednesday that the “intensification” of Israeli “massacres” in the Gaza Strip in recent days had the effect of strengthening the demands of the Islamist movement.
On another front, Israel claimed to have intercepted several drones on Thursday coming from Lebanon, on its northern border, the scene of recurring exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas.