Israel triggered an extensive terrestrial operation in Gaza last Sunday (18), as well as an intense air campaign that, according to local health officials, killed more than 100 people at night and closed the last hospital in operation in the north of the territory.
This terrestrial operation of the Israeli Army in Gaza happens while international mediators press for progress in ceasefire negotiations.
Hamas and Israel began indirect negotiations in the capital of Qatar, Doha, on Saturday (17), with the high militant group employee, Taher Al-Nunu, confirming that “negotiations without preconditions” had started, according to TV Al aqsa, run by Hamas.
Although there is a certain optimism around negotiations, an advance seems uncertain. Israel indicated on Sunday (18) an opening to end the war in Gaza if Hamas surrenders, a proposal that the militant group will hardly accept.
Hamas has stated that it will free all Israeli hostages if there is guarantee that Israel will end the war.
“If Hamas wants to negotiate the end of the war by surrender of Hamas, we will be ready,” replied an Israeli source.
Negotiations between Hamas and Israel
Still on Sunday (18), a senior leader of Hamas told the CNN that the group had agreed to free seven to nine Israeli hostages in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 300 prisoners and detainees Palestinians.
Hours later, another senior leader of the group, Sami Abu Zuhri, denied and contradicted the proposal, publishing a statement on the TV channel al-AQSA:
“There is no truth in rumors about the agreement of the movement to free nine Israeli prisoners in exchange for a two-month ceasefire,” the group senior wrote.
“We are ready to release all prisoners at once, as long as the occupation is committed to the cancellation of hostilities under international guarantees, and we will not deliver the prisoners of the occupation as long as it insists on continuing their aggression against Gaza indefinitely,” added Zuhri in the message.
The Israeli army stated that a new military campaign, called “Carriage of Gideon”, reference to a biblical warrior and announced on Friday night (16), brought Hamas back to the negotiating table.
And due to “operational need”, Israel’s Prime Minister’s office said on Sunday (18) that the country will allow a “basic amount of food” to be entry into the Gaza range to avoid a crisis of hunger in the territory, which, according to Israel, would endanger the operation.
The campaign was launched “to achieve all the goals of the war in Gaza, including the release of hostages and the defeat of Hamas,” the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
“During the operation, we will increase and expand our operational control in the Gaza Strip, including territory segmentation and population transfer to their protection in all areas we operate,” said IDF (Israel Defense Forces) spokesman Effie Defie on Sunday (18).
But analysts and authorities claim that Hamas is more likely to have agreed to resume negotiations after US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East.
“After discussions between Qatar and the US during President Trump’s visit to Doha, there is new pressure from US mediators, Qatar and Egypt to verify that a new ceasefire agreement can be reached,” he told the CNN an authority with knowledge of negotiations.
United States as mediator of a ceasefire
Last week, Netanyahu guided the Israeli negotiation team to go to Qatar for conversations, but made it clear that he is committed only to negotiating a proposal presented by the US envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
This proposal calls for the release of half of the hostages in exchange for a temporary ceasefire, but this does not guarantee the end of the war.
Trump was in Doha last Wednesday (14) as part of a trip to the Middle East who ignored Israel. The American leader said this month that he wanted the end of the “brutal war” in Gaza.
The US president also circumvented Israel twice this month to close bilateral agreements with regional militant groups.
Hamas released an Israeli-American hostage last week, and the Houthis agreed to stop shooting American ships in the Red Sea, promising to continue fighting Israel.
Trump, however, denied that Israel was marginalized. “This is good for Israel,” he said. But on Thursday (15), he said he wanted the US to “take” Gaza and turn it into a “zone of freedom.”
“I have ideas for Gaza that I consider very good: making it an zone of freedom, let the United States get involved and make it just an area of freedom,” Trump said during the visit to Qatar.
While in the gulf, Trump also acknowledged that people are starving in Gaza and said the US would “resolve” the situation in the territory.
Dead families and attacks on hospitals
Meanwhile, the UN and important humanitarian organizations are warning about the new Israeli offensive in Gaza, stating that civilians are suffering the impact of the attack.
More than 300 people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured after Israel intensified the air attacks since Thursday (15), according to a count of CNN with data this week available by the Ministry of Palestinian Health.
According to the department, whole families were killed while sleeping together.
In the Al-Mawasi area, in southern Gaza, a child, the two younger brothers and the parents, who lived in a displaced field, were killed on Saturday (17), told Dr. Munir al-Barsh, director of the Ministry of Health, to Palestinian CNN .
With the continuation of bombing and the increase in the number of dead, Gaza’s health system is being taken to the limit.
Last week, the Israeli army carried out attacks near several hospitals in the territory, including Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahiya, the last medical center in operation in northern Gaza, leaving it out of service.
Dr. Marwan Al-Sultan, director of the hospital, said on Friday (16) that there were “extremely intense explosions” around the hospital, which cut the connections with fans that some patients need to stay alive.
THE CNN He contacted the Israeli army for comments about the attack, as Israel’s defense forces (IDF) had already accused Hamas of hiding in medical facilities.
On Sunday (18), Al-Sultan told the British Charity Organization for Palestinians (MAP) that the hospital is “completely besieged”, that no one can reach him and that his intensive care unit is also being hit.
“We are deeply helpless,” he said, adding that the situation is “beyond the alarming.”
Al-Awda Hospital, in northern Gaza, underwent a “distressing night” with bombing near the hospital, the unit’s director, Dr. Mohammed Salha, told MAP on Sunday (18).
Salha stated that hospital medical systems, such as oxygen for fans, electricity and water supply, were severely damaged.
Drones flying over the area made it difficult to handle medical teams inside and outside the hospital, and the scarcity of medical supplies and fuel was making it difficult to continue the provision of essential care around the site.
On Sunday (18), the Palestinian Ministry of Health said that “all public hospitals in the north of the Gaza range are out of service.”
Hunger Risk in Gaza
Before Israel announced on Sunday (18) that it will allow a “basic amount of food” in the Gaza Strip, the UN warned that the entire population of the territory, from more than 2 million people, runs the risk of hunger after 19 months of conflict and mass displacement.
The situation worsened mainly after Israeli blockade to humanitarian aid for 11 weeks.
A US -backed organization, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), in charge of providing help, celebrated the Israeli announcement about Gaza’s food entry permission as a “transition” mechanism ”until the group is fully operational.
The non -profit organization was created at the request of the US government to help relieve hunger in Gaza, while meeting Israeli demands that help does not reach Hamas.
In a statement, group’s executive director Jake Wood said: “Today’s announcement marks an important intermediate step. We hope that GHF’s new aid mechanism, including the establishment of four secure distribution sites, will be in operation before the end of the month.”
The new organization has been criticized by high humanitarian employees, who warn that it is insufficient, can endanger civilians and even encourage its forced displacement.
The location of the initial points only in the south and in the center of Gaza can be seen as an incentive to Israel’s publicly declared goal of expelling northern Gaza’s population, warned the UN.
But the Foundation claims to have asked Israel to help establish distribution points in the north. The UN also warned that the Israeli army involvement in the safety of locations can discourage the recipients of the aid.
The Minister of National Security of Israel, Itamar Ben-Gvir, classified the decision of the Prime Minister’s office on humanitarian aid as a “serious error”, stating that any help that entered Gaza “would certainly feed Hamas.”
The number of people killed by the Israeli offensive in Gaza after the attacks of October 7, 2023 already exceeds 53,000, most of which are women and children, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday (15).
Despite the resumption of negotiations at Qatar, Omar Qandil, whose brother, sister -in -law and 4 -month -old niece were killed in a night air strike in downtown Gaza, said the world felt a thick view of their suffering.
“The current politics is to kill the living and erase the dead. Every bombing, every delay, every indecision increases the danger,” said Qandil.
Living hostages face immediate deadly danger, and we risk losing the dead forever, ”said Hagai Levine, head of the forum’s health team, which, according to the group, was co -author of a report on the dangers that the latest Israeli operation represents for hostages.
This content was originally published in war in Gaza: Israel expects Hamas to income to end conflict on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
