Air strikes pulverise Gaza, ceasefire possible by today
UN chief Guterres rues predicament of Gaza Strip’s children; Israel’s ambassador to UN warns against backing Hamas
Israeli leaders convened on Thursday to consider halting a Gaza offensive, possibly within hours, after US President Joe Biden called for a de-escalation of the fiercest hostilities in years. Palestinian Islamist faction Hamas had predicted a truce by Friday. With Cairo mediating between the sides, an Egyptian security official said they had agreed in principle to cease fire. After PM Benjamin Netanyahu convened his security cabinet, public broadcaster said it would vote on a proposal to halt attacks unilaterally within 24 hours.
GAZA CITY: Israel unleashed another wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early on Thursday, killing more than one Palestinian and wounding several, and Hamas fired more rockets, even as expectations were high that a truce would be reached.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had pushed back against calls from US President Joe Biden to wind down the Gaza offensive, appearing determined to inflict maximum damage on Hamas. Still, officials close to the negotiations said they expected a truce to be announced very soon.
In a possible sign, Netanyahu was holding a meeting on Thursday with his security cabinet, where the issue of a ceasefire was to be debated.
Explosions light up sky
Explosions shook Gaza City and orange flares lit up the pre-dawn sky, with bombing raids also reported in the central town of Deir al-Balah and the southern town of Khan Younis. As the sun rose, residents surveyed the rubble from at least five family homes destroyed in Khan Younis.
The Israeli military said it struck at least three homes of Hamas commanders in Khan Younis and another in Rafah, targeting “military infrastructure”, as well as a weapons storage unit at a home in Gaza City.
With hundreds already killed in the worst fighting since the Israel-Hamas 2014 war, Biden had told Israel that he wants “a significant de-escalation” - but Netanyahu pushed back and went ahead with more attacks.
Role of Egypt and Qatar
An Egyptian intelligence official, however, had already said a ceasefire was likely late on Thursday or on Friday, after the US appeal bolstered Cairo’s own efforts to halt the fighting.
UN Mideast envoy Tor Wennesland was in Qatar to help press forward with efforts to restore calm, a diplomatic official said. Energy-rich Qatar often helps mediate between Israel and Hamas and has donated hundreds of millions of dollars for development and humanitarian projects in Gaza in recent years to help maintain calm.
In New York, UN secretarygeneral Antonio Guterres had urged for an immediate ceasefire, speaking at the start of a UN General Assembly emergency meeting. He called on Israel and Hamas “to allow for mediation efforts to intensify in order to bring the fighting to an end”.
“If there is a hell on Earth, it is the lives of children in Gaza today,” said Guterres, adding that he would launch a full humanitarian appeal for funding as soon as possible.
Israel’s UN ambassador has said that his country wanted a ceasefire with Hamas, “but only after significantly degrading Hamas’s terror machine”. Gilad Erdan told Thursday’s emergency in-person meeting of the UN General Assembly on the conflict that “we are looking for a cure and not a band-aid”.
At least 230 Palestinians have been killed so far, including 65 children and 39 women, with 1,710 people wounded, according to the Gaza health ministry. Some 58,000 Palestinians have fled their homes. Twelve people in Israel, including a five-yearold boy, a 16-year-old girl and a soldier, have been killed.