Israel strikes Gaza as pressure grows for ceasefire

Israel kept up deadly strikes on the besieged Gaza Strip on Sunday despite growing international calls for a ceasefire and pleas from desperate relatives to bring home the remaining hostages.
The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said 24 Palestinians were killed by Israeli bombardment in Jabalia camp in the north, with many still “missing under the rubble”.
It said at least 12 died in strikes on the central city of Deir al-Balah, while witnesses reported bombardment of Bani Suhaila east of Khan Yunis, Gaza’s second city, in the south.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna was the latest envoy to call for an “immediate and durable” truce leading to a lasting ceasefire as she visited Tel Aviv, stressing that “too many civilians are being killed”.
Her British and German counterparts, David Cameron and Annalena Baerbock, also bemoaned the high civilian toll but said it was not the right time for a ceasefire because it would not be sustainable.
Hamas says Israel’s offensive, including over two months of aerial bombardment and a ground invasion, has killed 18,800 people, mostly women and children.
The Israeli army says it has lost 121 soldiers in the ground operations that began late October.
Pope Francis deplored the death of a Christian mother and daughter reportedly shot dead by an Israeli soldier at Gaza’s only Catholic church, where families were sheltering.
“A mother and her daughter… were killed and other people injured by sniper fire,” the pope said.
“This happened even inside the parish of the Holy Family where there are only families, children, sick or disabled people.”
Israel’s bombardment has left much of Gaza in ruins, with the UN estimating 1.9 million Gazans — some 85 percent — have been displaced by the war and warning of a “breakdown of civil order”.
“I would not be surprised if people start dying of hunger, or a combination of hunger, disease, weak immunity,” said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
The UN’s World Health Organisation also sounded the alarm after visiting the largest hospital, Gaza City’s Al-Shifa, weeks after it was raided by Israeli forces.
The WHO team said the emergency department was “a bloodbath, with hundreds of injured patients inside, and new patients arriving every minute”.
“Patients with trauma injuries were being sutured on the floor,” the WHO said, while “tens of thousands of displaced people are using the hospital building and grounds for shelter” amid “a severe shortage” of water and food.
The Israeli government has come under growing pressure, including from its top ally the United States, but also from families of hostages, to either slow, suspend or end the military campaign.
There are 129 hostages still in Gaza, Israel says, and relatives again rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday to call for an urgent deal to bring them home after the army admitted to mistakenly killing three captives in Gaza.
Ruby Chen, father of 19-year-old soldier Itai, who is among the captives, said: “We feel like we’re in a Russian roulette game (finding out) who will be next in line to be told the death of their loved one.”
Talks involving mediator Qatar have resumed toward another truce like the one last month that saw scores of hostages exchanged for jailed Palestinians.
News platform Axios said Israeli spy chief David Barnea met Friday in an unspecified European location with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
Qatar in a statement Saturday reaffirmed its “ongoing diplomatic efforts to renew the humanitarian pause”.
But Hamas said on Telegram it was “against any negotiations for the exchange of prisoners until the aggression against our people ceases completely”.
The Gaza war has also seen violence spiral in the occupied West Bank.
Five Palestinians were killed Sunday in an Israeli army operation at the Tulkarem refugee camp, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
More than 290 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since the war erupted, health officials say.
The war has also raised fears of a broader Middle East conflict, with Israel exchanging regular fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah across its northern border with Lebanon.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels have launched repeated attacks at Israel and on passing vessels, causing major disruption to the key Red Sea shipping lane.
Major shipping companies have redirected their vessels, among them Mediterranean Shipping Company, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Saturday he was travelling to Israel, Bahrain and Qatar to highlight Washington’s “commitments to strengthening regional security and stability”.