Israeli tanks move deeper into Gaza as Biden calls for peace

2024-08-22 17:48:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Israeli forces pushed deeper into central and southern parts of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, battling Hamas militants - the group designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

At least 27 people were killed in Gaza during the fighting on Thursday, Palestinian health officials said.

The escalation of fighting came hours after US President Joe Biden pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the need to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza and release hostages, the White House said.

Months of talks, interrupted from time to time, have been held over the same issues, but Israel and Hamas have not given up on their demands. In the northern Gaza city of Beit Lahiya, 11 people were killed in an attack on a house, including children and women, whose bodies were completely burned, according to the Hamas-run civil emergency service in Gaza.

Medics said another attack killed six people, including a local journalist, at a house in Al-Maghazi camp in central Gaza. Five others were killed in separate attacks in the south.

Later Thursday, five Palestinians were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli airstrike near a square in Han Yunis, health officials said.

The Israeli military said its forces have stepped up operations in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza, and Han Yunis, in the south, destroying dozens of military structures, uncovering rockets and killing militants in the past 24 hours. The phone conversation between Biden and Netanyahu took place late Wednesday, a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended a tour of the Middle East without making any progress in efforts to end the 10-month war.

Israel says the war can only end after Hamas is destroyed as a political and military force, while Hamas says it will only accept permanent, not temporary, ceasefires.

The war in Gaza began on October 7 last year, when Hamas militants swept into southern Israel and killed around 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 250 others, according to Israeli officials.

As a result of the Israeli war, parts of the Gaza Strip have been razed to the ground and at least 40,000 people have been killed, according to health authorities in the enclave./ Rel