Israeli forces batter central, south Gaza as tanks advance in Rafah
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Smoke rising following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation in Rafah on June 3.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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CAIRO - With a renewed ceasefire push in the eight-month-old Gaza war stalled, Israel bombarded central and southern areas again on June 7, killing at least 28 people, and tank forces advanced to the western edges of Rafah.
Qatari and Egyptian mediators backed by the United States have tried again this week to reconcile clashing demands preventing a halt to the hostilities, a release of Israeli hostages and Palestinians jailed in Israel, and an untrammelled flow of aid into Gaza to alleviate a humanitarian disaster.
But sources close to the talks said there were still no signs of a breakthrough.
A month after rumbling into Rafah in what Israel said was an assault to wipe out Hamas’ last intact combat units, tank-led forces have advanced to the south-west fringes of the city that skirts the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt, residents said.
They said tanks were stationed in the al-Izba district near the Mediterranean coast, while snipers had commandeered some buildings and high ground, trapping people in their homes.
They added that Israeli machine gun fire had made it too dangerous to go out.
Gaza health officials said two people had been killed and several wounded in western Rafah from tank shelling.
In central Gaza, Palestinian medics said at least 15 people died overnight in Israeli bombardments.
“I think the occupation forces are trying to reach the beach area of Rafah. The raids and the bombing overnight were tactical, they entered under heavy fire, and then retreated,” one Palestinian resident told Reuters via a chat app.
In the larger city of Khan Younis just to the north of Rafah, an Israeli air strike on a house killed eight people and wounded several, including children, medics said.
In north Gaza, three people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a Gaza City school building that was sheltering displaced families, rescue workers said.
Hamas said on June 7 that militants in the central city of Deir al-Balah shelled a house where Israeli troops were barricaded, killing some and wounding others. It added that helicopters were seen landing to extricate the stricken Israeli unit.
The Israeli military focused on central Gaza in its latest update, saying it had killed “dozens” of militants and destroyed more militant infrastructure in continuing operations in the al-Bureij refugee camp and nearby city of Deir al-Balah.
The Israeli military blames Hamas for Gaza’s high civilian death toll, accusing it of operating within densely populated neighbourhoods, schools and hospitals as cover, something Hamas denies.
UN and humanitarian officials accuse Israel of using disproportionate force in the war, which it denies.
On June 6, Israel hit an al-Nuseirat school building
“It is just another horrific example of the price that civilians are paying, that Palestinian men, women and children who are just trying to survive, who are being forced to move around in sort of a death circle around Gaza, trying to find safety, are paying,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Israel has ruled out peace until Hamas is eradicated. Much of Gaza lies in ruins, but Hamas has proven resilient, with militants resurfacing to fight in areas where Israeli forces had previously declared to have defeated them and pulled back.
Hamas precipitated the war by attacking Israeli territory on Oct 7
Israel’s invasion and bombardment of Gaza since then has killed at least 36,731 people, including 77 in the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Health Ministry said on June 7 in an update.
Thousands more dead are feared buried under rubble, with most of the 2.3 million population displaced.
Since the brief week-long truce in November
Israel said it is prepared to discuss only temporary pauses in the hostilities until the Islamist militant group, which has ruled the narrow, impoverished enclave since 2007, is wiped out, and Gaza poses no more security threat.
The latest round of indirect talks began on June 5, when Central Intelligence Agency director William Burns met senior officials from Qatar and Egypt in Doha to discuss a proposal that US President Joe Biden publicly endorsed last week.
Mr Biden described the three-phase plan as an Israeli initiative.
Qatar said on June 6 that Hamas has not yet handed mediators its response to the latest proposal and was still studying it.
Two Egyptian security sources said ceasefire mediators were soldiering on, but without inklings of a breakthrough. REUTERS
