GAZA: Deadly fighting and bombardment rocked Gaza on Tuesday as international mediators pushed for a new ceasefire and captives release deal in the war.
Heavy Israeli strikes and urban combat across the besieged Gaza Strip killed 128 more people overnight, the health ministry in the Palestinian territory said.
The epicentre of fighting has been the southern city of Khan Yunis, where vast areas have been reduced to a muddy wasteland of bombed-out buildings.
Troops fighting in city blocks and tunnels have raided several military sites, "a significant rocket manufacturing facility", the Israeli military said.
The Gaza war, now in its fourth month, has left much of besieged enclave in ruins and sparked a spiralling humanitarian crisis for its 2.4 million people, many of whom face the threats of hunger and disease.
In the latest efforts to broker a new truce, CIA chief William Burns met top Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials in Paris on Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office called the talks "constructive" but pointed to "significant gaps which the parties will continue to discuss".
Blinken expressed hope for a deal, telling reporters that "very important, productive work has been done. And there is some real hope going forward."
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, whose government helped broker a previous truce in November and who attended the talks, said "good progress" had been made.
Sheikh Mohammed said the plan included a phased truce that would see women and children released first, with aid also entering Gaza, and that an initial deal might lead to a permanent ceasefire.
Palestinian movement Hamas confirmed on Tuesday that it had received the proposal, saying on its Telegram account that it was "in the process of examining it and delivering its response".
The deadliest ever Gaza war was triggered by unprecedented October 7 attack in Israel.
Palestinian groups seized 250 captives, of whom Israel says around 132 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 28 dead captives.
Israel's relentless military offensive has killed at least 26,751 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the territory's health ministry.
Fears have grown that Israel and its ally the United States could face a widening Middle East conflict after months of violence involving groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
Those fears were heightened after Washington vowed to respond to a drone attack on Sunday that killed three US troops in a remote outpost in Jordan near the Syrian and Iraqi borders. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
