Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 61 as UN pursues vaccinations
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A Palestinian man mourns over family members who died during Israeli bombardment on Sept 7.
PHOTO: AFP
CAIRO – Israeli military strikes across the Palestinian Gaza Strip killed at least 61 people in the space of 48 hours, medics said on Sept 7, as Israeli forces battled Hamas-led militants in the territory.
Eleven months into the war, numerous rounds of diplomacy have so far failed to clinch a ceasefire deal to end the conflict and bring the release of Israeli and foreign hostages held in Gaza.
Airstrikes on two former schools that were housing displaced people, one in Gaza City and one in Jabalia, killed at least 12 people, Palestinian medics said.
The Israeli military said the strikes targeted Hamas gunmen who were operating in the compound. Five more people were killed in a strike on a house in Gaza City, Palestinian medics said, with a total of 28 people killed on Sept 7.
The armed wings of the Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah groups said they had fought Israeli troops across Gaza with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs, and in some incidents detonated bombs to target tanks and other army vehicles.
The two warring sides continued to blame one another for the failure of mediators, including Qatar, Egypt and the United States, to broker a ceasefire. The US is preparing to present a new proposal, but the prospects of a breakthrough appear slim as gaps between the sides remain wide.
CIA director William Burns, the chief US negotiator, told an event in London that a more detailed proposal would be made in the coming days.
Tens of thousands of Israelis joined protests in Tel Aviv and other cities, demanding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government make a deal under which the remaining 101 hostages would be released.
The killing of six hostages last week triggered an outpouring of anger and grief that led to mass protests. The hostages had been shot in the head by Hamas, Israel said, not long before their bodies were found by troops in a Gaza tunnel on Aug 31.
“They could have been saved,” said Einav Zangauker, whose 24-year-old son Matan had been abducted by militants from his home in Nir Oz kibbutz. “As long as Netanyahu is in power, we will keep getting the hostages back in body bags.”
Vaccinations continue
On Sept 5, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it was incumbent on both Israel and Hamas, which seized control of Gaza almost two decades ago and was responsible for the Oct 7 killing spree in Israel
On Sept 7, senior Hamas official Hossam Badran said the group had made no new demands and remained committed to a July 2 proposal put forward by the US, accusing Mr Netanyahu of attaching new conditions that would not end the war.
Mr Netanyahu says it was Hamas that introduced unacceptable conditions.
UN officials say they have reached more than half of the children needing polio vaccine drops in southern and central Gaza.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Despite the deadlock, the United Nations, in collaboration with local health authorities, has pursued a campaign to vaccinate 640,000 children in Gaza
UN officials said they were making progress, having reached more than half of the children needing the drops in the first two stages in the southern and central Gaza Strip.
On Sept 8, the campaign will move to the northern Gaza Strip. A second round of vaccination will be required four weeks after the first.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered by the Oct 7 Hamas attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and in which about 250 hostages were taken, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s subsequent assault on the enclave has killed more than 40,900 Palestinians,
The Palestinian health ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants in its casualty reports, but health officials say most the fatalities have been civilians.
Israel, which has lost 340 soldiers in Gaza, says at least a third of the Palestinian dead are fighters. REUTERS
