Fighting was still devastating Khan Younis on the 116th day of the war between Israel and Hamas, on Tuesday January 30. Meanwhile, the truce agreement drafted in Paris is reportedly being “studied” by the Palestinian movement controlling Gaza.
Deadly fighting and bombardment rocked Gaza on Tuesday as international mediators pushed for a new ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Israel-Hamas war.
The epicentre of fighting has been the southern city of Khan Yunis – the hometown of Hamas’ Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, the alleged architect of the October 7 attack – 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, Sinwar’s office and “a significant rocket manufacturing facility,” the Israeli military said.
Army spokesman Daniel Hagari claimed that troops in the city had “eliminated over 2,000 terrorists above and below ground.”
Jenin Hospital Raid
Meanwhile, Israeli undercover troops in the occupied West Bank killed three alleged members of a Hamas “terrorist cell” in a raid on a hospital.
The agents – some dressed as medical staff and carrying a wheelchair and baby carrier as props – shot dead three men at Ibn Sina Hospital in the northern city of Jenin, according to officials and hospital CCTV footage released by the ministry.
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Truce Talks
Hamas confirmed on Tuesday that it had received the proposal discussed on Sunday in Paris, saying on its Telegram account that it was “in the process of examining it and delivering its response.”
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.”
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Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, whose government helped broker a previous truce in November and who attended the talks, said that “good progress” had been made.
‘Dire Need’
The Gaza war, now in its fourth month, left much of besieged Gaza in ruins and sparked a spiralling humanitarian crisis for its 2.4 million people, many of whom face the threats of hunger and disease.
Israel claimed that around a dozen staff members of the main UN aid agency for Palestinians took part in the October 7 attack, leading key donor countries, including the United States and Germany, to suspend funding.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who pleaded for continued support to meet the “dire needs,” will have talks with donors in New York on Tuesday, according to his office, as investigations into Israel’s claims continue.
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With AFP
