Hindustan Times (Ranchi)

Israel continues Gaza bombing despite truce calls

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The southern Gaza Strip came under intense Israeli bombardmen­t overnight, despite internatio­nal pressure for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinia­n territory where famine is looming.

Besieged Gaza is in desperate need of aid and the United States said it would continue airdrops, despite pleas from Hamas to stop the practice after the Islamist group said 18 people had died trying to reach food packages.

A fireball lit up the night sky in the southern city of Rafah, the last remaining urban centre in Gaza not to have been attacked by Israeli ground forces.

About 1.5 million people are crammed in the area, many having fled south towards the border with Egypt.

The sound of explosions was also heard and smoke was seen rising in Gaza City in the north, where Israeli troops have been attacking the city’s largest hospital for more than a week.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said early Wednesday that 66 people had been killed overnight, including three killed in Israeli airstrikes in and around Rafah.

The fighting went on unabated two days after the UN Security Council passed its first resolution calling for an “immediate ceasefire” and urging the release of the roughly 130 hostages Israel says remain in Gaza, including 34 captives who are presumed dead.

Israeli forces have also surrounded two hospitals in Khan Yunis, where the health ministry said 12 people, including some children, were killed in an Israeli strike on a camp for the displaced.

The war, triggered by Hamas’s unpreceden­ted October 7 attack on Israel, has shattered Gaza’s infrastruc­ture and aid agencies say all of its 2.4 million people are now in need of humanitari­an help.

While it resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Israel’s retaliator­y campaign killed 32,414 in Gaza, mostly women, children.

 ?? AFP ?? Palestinia­ns check destroyed buildings following overnight Israeli bombardmen­t in Rafah, southern Gaza.
AFP Palestinia­ns check destroyed buildings following overnight Israeli bombardmen­t in Rafah, southern Gaza.

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