Israel’s military on Thursday said it had identified a projectile launched towards aid points in southern Gaza a day earlier, as Hamas said it had targeted an “enemy command and control site” in the area.
Israel denied being responsible for the ongoing food shortages, blaming Hamas instead, as international criticism of the humanitarian situation for Gaza’s two million residents grew. According to a statement issued by the army, “Last night, the (Israeli military) identified a projectile launched from the Khan Yunis area in southern Gaza, toward the area in which the aid distribution sites in Rafah are located.” It added that the projectile fell approximately 250 meters (820 feet) from an aid station adjacent to the so-called Morag Corridor, which connects Khan Yunis and Rafah, two southern cities. International news agencies Agence France-Presse (AFP), Associated Press (AP) and Reuters as well as the BBC called on Israel on Thursday to allow journalists in and out of Gaza which is subject to a strict blockade.
In a joint statement, the media organizations said, “We once again urge the Israeli authorities to allow journalists in and out of Gaza.” The statement also said, “We are desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families.” Mohammed’s skeletal arms stick out of a romper with a grinning emoji-face and the slogan “smiley boy”, which in a Gaza hospital reads as a cruel joke. He either cries out of hunger or gnaws at his own slender fingers for the majority of the day. He has been admitted for treatment twice, the second time for a condition for which he weighs only 4 kg (9 lbs) at seven months of age. His face is gaunt, his limbs little more than bones covered in baggy skin and his ribs protrude painfully from his chest.
“My biggest fear now is losing my grandson to malnutrition,” said his grandmother Faiza Abdul Rahman, who herself is constantly dizzy from lack of food. The previous day the only thing she ate was a single piece of pitta bread, which cost 15 shekels (£3).
“His siblings also suffer from severe hunger. On some days, they go to bed without a single bite to eat.”
Top US Envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to head to Italy Thursday to meet top Israeli negotiator Ron Dermer and discuss the ceasefire deal on the table, according to Israeli and US officials.
The deal under discussion is expected to include a 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Aid supplies would be ramped up and the two sides would hold negotiations on a lasting truce.
Hamas earlier Thursday submitted a response to the latest ceasefire proposal which an Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, billed as “workable.”
A senior Israeli official was quoted by local media as saying the new text of Hamas’s revised response to a proposed ceasefire and hostage release deal was something Israel could work with.
But Israel’s Channel 12 said that a quick deal was not possible because there were still differences between the two sides, like where the Israeli military should withdraw during any truce. According to a Palestinian official who was close to the talks, the most recent Hamas position was “flexible, positive, and took into consideration the need to stop the starvation and the growing suffering in Gaza.” The war between Israel and Hamas has been raging for nearly two years since Hamas killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages from southern Israel in the deadliest single attack in Israel’s history.
Israel has since killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians in Gaza, decimated Hamas as a military force, reduced most of the territory to ruins and forced nearly the entire population to flee their homes multiple times.
Hamas gives ceasefire proposal response to mediators, official says, as Israel urged to let supplies into Gaza – Middle East crisis live
