2024-07-13 02:38:18
Fighting and shelling intensified in the eastern Shujaya district, forcing even more people to leave their homes just as talks on a ceasefire and the release of hostages were underway in Qatar.
US President Joe Biden told reporters that his administration was “making progress” toward a ceasefire deal as he called for an end to Israel’s war with Hamas.
He made the announcement after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded that Israel retain control of a key strip of Gaza along the border with Egypt, a condition that contradicts Hamas’ demand that Israel withdraw its troops from all of Gaza once the ceasefire is announced.
The Gaza Civil Defense Agency said the bodies of around 60 people were found in the rubble of Shujaya after one of the fiercest battles in Gaza City in recent months.
According to Hamas, the Israeli operation “destroyed more than 300 residential houses and 100 business buildings” in the area.
One of the residents of Shujaya said that he returned to his district and saw “a huge devastation that cannot be described in words. All the houses were destroyed.”
Israel’s military said on Wednesday it had ended a two-week mission in Shujaya on Wednesday, but the sounds of bombs and battles continued to rock the Gaza city.
According to witnesses, tanks and soldiers withdrew to other parts of the city.
An AFP correspondent reported the airstrikes in the Sabra district, while intense clashes between the attackers and Israeli forces took place in Tel el-Hava.
Hamas said 45 airstrikes were carried out in and around Gaza City, as well as in Gaza’s southernmost town of Rafah, where Netanyahu said an intense phase of the war was coming to an end.
2024-07-13 02:38:18