Gaza Conflict: Israel steps up assault on Hamas after hostages talks

On December 17, amid rising worldwide appeals for a ceasefire and cries from distraught family to free their loved ones, Israel continued its deadly raids on the besieged Gaza Strip.

Now in its third month, the bloodiest-ever Gaza conflict has left most of the Palestinian enclave in ruins and aroused international concern. It began with the Hamas attacks on October 7.

24 Palestinians were murdered this morning in the Jabalia camp by an Israeli bombing, according to the health ministry in the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas. Many remain missing beneath the debris.

Additionally, it stated that at least 12 people had perished in attacks on Deir al-Balah, the capital of Gaza, and witnesses claimed that Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Yunis, had been bombarded.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, declared once more that “we will fight until the end.” We’ll succeed in all of our objectives, including taking down Hamas, releasing all of our hostages, and making sure Gaza never serves as a haven for terrorist activity.

The most recent foreign envoy to visit Israel, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, emphasised that “too many civilians are being killed” and demanded a “immediate and durable” truce that would lead to a permanent ceasefire.

In a joint Sunday Times piece, her German and British colleagues, David Cameron and Annalena Baerbock, expressed disapproval of the fighting but also lamented the high civilian casualty rate.

The pair wrote that they “support a ceasefire, but only if it is sustainable … We do not believe that calling right now for a general and immediate ceasefire, hoping it somehow becomes permanent, is the way forward.

“It ignores why Israel is forced to defend itself: Hamas barbarically attacked Israel and still fires rockets to kill Israeli citizens every day. Hamas must lay down its arms.”

On October 7, Hamas militants launched the most devastating attack on Israel ever by breaking through Gaza’s heavily guarded border fence. This marked the beginning of the Gaza War.

According to recent Israeli numbers, they killed roughly 1,140 individuals, largely civilians, and kidnapped 250 others; of those, about 129 are still thought to be in custody after many were released and others were slain.

Hamas claims that 18,800 Palestinians, largely women and children, have been killed by Israel’s retaliatory onslaught, which included a ground invasion and more than two months of continuous aircraft bombing.

With the two further deaths on Sunday, the Israeli army reported that there have been 121 troops killed in Gaza since military operations started in late October.

A “breakdown of civil order” has been warned by the UN, which estimates that 1.9 million Gazans have been displaced by Israel’s shelling of the enclave, which has left most of it in ruins.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN also raised alarms about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza after touring Al-Shifa, the city’s main hospital, some weeks after Israeli soldiers invaded it in an attempt to apprehend Hamas fighters.

The WHO reported that the emergency room was a “bloodbath,” with hundreds of injured people inside and fresh patients entering every minute. The team that was touring the facility described it as such.

The families of the captives as well as the United States, the country’s main ally, have increased pressure on the Israeli government to reduce, halt, or terminate the military assault.

Following the army’s admission that it had erroneously killed three hostages in Gaza, relatives of the hostages once more gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday to demand an immediate agreement to release them.

Nevertheless, after a week-long ceasefire last month that made it possible to exchange detainees for hostages, negotiations including mediator Qatar have reportedly resumed towards another ceasefire.

The news outlet Axios reported that Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who assisted in negotiating the previous ceasefire, and Israeli espionage chief David Barnea met on Friday in an undisclosed location in Europe.

(With agency inputs)