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Israeli forces escalated their attacks across multiple locations in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, leading Palestinian health officials to report at least 50 deaths from bombardments in southern and central areas.
The Palestinian group Hamas has accused Israel of intensifying attacks in Gaza to sabotage cease-fire efforts led by Arab mediators and the U.S.
Israel maintains its operations are aimed at rooting out Hamas members.
In Rafah, a southern border city under Israeli operation since May, Gaza health officials reported five Palestinians killed in an airstrike on a house.
Nearby in Khan Younis, officials said a man, his wife and two children were also killed.
Later on Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike on a car killed at least 17 Palestinians and wounded 26 others in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, officials said.
The airstrike hit near a tented area housing displaced families on Attar Street, the Health Ministry said.
In the historic Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, at least four Palestinians were killed in separate shelling and aerial strikes, medics said. An Israeli airstrike killed four in Sheikh Zayed in northern Gaza, they said.
Hours later, an Israeli airstrike on a school in the Nuseirat camp killed 16 people and wounded many others, health officials said.
The strike hit a U.N.-run school that housed displaced families, the ministry said.
The Israeli military said troops continued “intelligence-based” activities in Rafah and that airstrikes had targeted Hamas members, tunnels, and other infrastructures.
It said the Israeli Air Force had struck about 40 targets across the enclave, including sniping and observation posts, military structures and buildings rigged with explosives.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad, a Hamas ally, said their members had attacked Israeli forces in several locations with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs.
Islamic Jihad’s armed wing said it had fired missiles at Sderot in southern Israel. There was no word of any deaths or serious damage.
Israel vowed to eradicate Hamas after its members killed 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages in an attack on southern Israeli communities last Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies.
At least 38,713 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive since then, Gaza health authorities said in their latest update on Tuesday.
Israel also says 326 of its soldiers have been killed in Gaza.
Relatives visited Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza to say farewell to loved ones before funerals.
“This is so unfair, the number of martyrs (victims), every minute there is a martyr,” elderly Palestinian Sahar Abu Emeira said. “We’re exhausted, we’re devastated, we are extremely tired, our patience is over. Whether Hamas or the others (Israel), they need to agree as soon as possible.”
Talks paused
Efforts mediated by Egypt and Qatar to end the conflict and release hostages, as well as Palestinians in Israeli jails, had appeared to be making some progress, negotiators said.
The talks stalled on Saturday after three days of intense negotiations failed to produce a viable outcome, Egyptian security sources said, and after an Israeli strike targeting Hamas’ top military chief, Mohammed Deif.
The attack in the Khan Younis area killed more than 90 people and wounded hundreds, Gaza health authorities said.
A Palestinian official close to the negotiations told Reuters Hamas was keen not to be seen as halting the talks despite the stepped-up Israeli attacks.
“Hamas wants the war to end, not at any price. It says it has shown the flexibility needed and is pushing the mediators to get Israel to reciprocate,” the official said.
He said Hamas believed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was trying to avoid a deal by adding more conditions that restrict the return of displaced people to northern Gaza and by keeping control over the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday that two senior advisers to Netanyahu had said Israel was still committed to reaching a cease-fire.
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