Six Palestinians killed as Israeli forces pound southern, northern Gaza

“In the past hour, a residential flat was targeted. Medical sources we’ve talked to say at least 15 people have been killed today in the north after people’s homes were directly hit by artillery shells,” Abu Azzoum said.

He noted that in Rafah, there was a continuation of “indiscriminate Israeli attacks as residents flee for their lives”.

“In the al-Mawasi district – declared a ‘safe zone’ by Israel’s military – they’ve been setting fire to makeshift tent camps where displaced Palestinians have been sheltering,” he added.

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Speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his stance that there was no substitute for victory in the war against Hamas.

“We are committed to fighting until we achieve all of our objectives: Eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages, ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel and returning our residents securely to their homes in the south and the north,” he said.

‘Empty shells’

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan meanwhile said there’s been no progress in ceasefire talks. He said on Saturday that the Palestinian group is still ready to discuss any truce proposal that ends the nearly nine-month assault.

While the offensive focused on Gaza, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, one man was killed and five were wounded in an Israeli strike near the city of Tulkarem, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The armed wing of Hamas and the allied Palestinian Islamic Jihad reported fierce fighting in both Shujayea and Rafah, saying their fighters had fired antitank rockets and mortar bombs against Israeli forces operating there.

Arab mediators’ efforts, backed by the United States, have stalled. Hamas says any deal must end the offensive and bring a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel says it will accept only temporary pauses in the fighting until Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2007, is eradicated.

The Palestinian health ministry said 43 bodies of slain Palestinians arrived at hospitals in the last 24-hour reporting period. At least 111 others were wounded.

Israel’s offensive has so far killed at least 37,877 people, according to the Gaza health ministry, and has left the heavily built-up coastal enclave in ruins.

Israeli tanks pushed deeper into several districts in the east, west and centre of Rafah, near the border with Egypt, on Sunday, and medics said six people had been killed in an Israeli strike on a house in Shaboura, in the heart of the city.

Six bodies from the Zurub family were transferred to Nasser Hospital in the nearby city of Khan Younis, where dozens of relatives paid their respects.

Residents said the Israeli army had torched the Al-Awda mosque in the centre of Rafah, one of the city’s best known.

Israel has said its military operations in Rafah are aimed at eradicating the last armed battalions of Hamas. It continues to severely restrict the entry of much-needed humanitarian aid, medicine, and fuel into the enclave, which is on the verge of famine.