Gaza death toll nears 25 000

STRIKES: FEARS GROW OF WIDENING CONFLICT Netanyahu turns down calls for sovereignty in besieged territory.

Fighting raged across Gaza and Israeli units raided the West Bank yesterday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has faced growing domestic criticism, rejected calls for post-war “Palestinian sovereignty”.

Fierce fighting across the besieged territory and strikes in Syria and Iraq raised fears of a wider conflagration.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said at least 165 people were killed over the previous 24 hours – more than double Friday’s toll.

There were reports of gunfire, air strikes and tank shelling that was especially heavy in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza’s main city.

Witnesses said Israeli boats were bombarding Gaza City and other areas in the north early yesterday.

In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, at least five people died in a strike that hit what the health ministry said was a civilian car.

Israel is pressing south against Hamas after the military said in early January that the militants’ command structure in northern Gaza had been dismantled, leaving only isolated fighters.

Hamas also reported heavy combat in northern Gaza as Israel said its troops, backed by air and naval support, were striking militant infrastructure throughout the Palestinian territory.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after its surprise 7 October attacks that killed about 1 140 people, mostly civilians.

Israel’s relentless bombardment and ground offensive have killed at least 24 927 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, said Gaza’s health ministry.

Violence has also surged in Israel-occupied West Bank, where the army said it had demolished two houses in Hebron it claimed belonged to two Palestinian gunmen who had carried out an attack on a road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem in November.

There were reports of clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters in the West Bank village of Maithalun, south of Jenin, and in the West Bank towns of Arura and Qalqilya.

Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday that Israel “must retain security control over Gaza to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel”.

That, it said, was “a requirement that contradicts the demand for Palestinian sovereignty”.