Israel launches new military operation in Gaza. Netanyahu tells negotiating team to stay at talks
“This is unacceptable. Until when? Until we all die?” asked a sweating Naji Awaisa as he and others fled Jabaliya with their belongings down streets lined with shattered buildings. Smoke from airstrikes rose in the distance.
Airstrikes around Deir al-Balah in central Gaza killed 14 people, with the bodies arriving at al-Aqsa hospital. One strike on a house killed eight people, including parents and four children.
A strike hit outside a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, killing four, the Gaza Health Ministry’s emergency service said.
There was no immediate Israeli comment on the strikes. A separate statement said the military had killed dozens of fighters while dismantling an “underground route” in northern Gaza.
Hundreds of protesters rallied on Saturday night in Tel Aviv, some holding photos of Palestinian children killed in Gaza, with others demanding a deal to end the war and bring all hostages home.
“Let me be crystal clear. All of Israeli society, left, right, secular, religious, stands united in calling for a hostage deal. To miss this moment for a deal would be a betrayal of history, a stain that will never fade,” Dalia Kushnir-Horn, sister-in-law of hostage Eitan Horn, told the crowd.
Protesters hold pictures of Palestinian children killed during Israel’s military operation in a protest demanding the end of the war in Tel Aviv, Israel on Saturday.Credit: AP
Month three of Israel’s blockade
Gaza is in the third month of an Israeli blockade with no food, water, fuel or other goods entering the territory of more than 2 million people. Food security experts say Gaza will be in famine if the blockade isn’t lifted.
Earlier this week, a new humanitarian organisation that has US backing to take over aid delivery said that it expected to begin operations by the end of the month, after what it described as key agreements with Israeli officials. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation identified several US military veterans, former humanitarian co-ordinators and security contractors to lead the effort.
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But many in the humanitarian community, including the United Nations, said that they would not participate because the system did not align with humanitarian principles and would not be able to meet the needs of Palestinians in Gaza.
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said on Friday that there was already an aid delivery plan with 160,000 pallets of supplies ready to move: “It is ready to be activated – today – if we are simply allowed to do our jobs.”
The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1200 people and abducting 251 others. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
