Fighting rages across Gaza
Netanyahu faces increasing domestic criticism
GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories: Health OFfiCIALS IN HAMAS-RUN GAZA ON SATURDAY REPORTED A SURGING DEATH TOLL AS ISRAELI LEADER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, WHO HAS FACED INCREASING DOMESTIC CRITICISM, REJECTED CALLS FOR “PALESTINIAN SOVEREIGNTY” AFTER THE WAR.
While fighting raged across the besieged Gaza Strip, a strike in Syria blamed on Israel and missiles fired at US-led coalition forces in Iraq raised further fears of a wider conflagration.
Gaza’s health ministry reported at least 165 people killed over the previous 24 hours — more than double Friday’s figure.
An Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent reported gunfire, air strikes and tank shelling, especially in southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis city.
In Rafah, further south near the border with Egypt, at least five people were killed in a strike that “targeted a civilian car,” the health ministry said.
Israel is pressing its push southwards against Hamas after the army in early January said the militants’ command structure in northern Gaza had been dismantled, leaving only isolated fighters.
But Hamas reported fierce combat in north Gaza as Israel’s military said troops backed by air and naval support were striking militant infrastructure throughout the Palestinian territory.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s unprecedented October attacks, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s relentless bombardment and ground offensive have killed at least 24,927 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas government’s health ministry.
The United States, which provides Israel with billions of dollars in military aid, has urged it to take more care to protect civilians, and the two sides have disagreed over Gaza’s future governance.
Prime Minister Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden on Friday discussed the post-war future of Gaza.
Biden said it was still possible Netanyahu could agree to some form of Palestinian state after the two spoke for the first time in nearly a month.
But Netanyahu’s office in a statement Saturday said, “Israel must retain security control over Gaza to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel, a requirement that contradicts the demand for Palestinian sovereignty.”
In Gaza, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA reported just 15 bakeries operating across the narrow territory.
It said water availability for drinking and domestic use “is shrinking every day.”
UN agencies have warned better aid access is needed urgently as famine and disease loom.