GAZA CITY: International pressure intensified on Monday for a ceasefire in Gaza, with Britain, France and Germany issuing a joint plea for an end to Israeli bombardment with “no further delay”.
Since October 7, Israel has launched a relentless bombardment campaign in Gaza killing at least 39,897 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to a new toll from the territory’s health ministry.
In a joint statement, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer demanded an urgent end to the ongoing Israeli bombardment, emphasizing the critical need for unrestricted delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“The fighting must end now, and all hostages still detained by Hamas must be released,” the leaders stated. “The people of Gaza need urgent and unfettered delivery and distribution of aid,” it said. “There can be no further delay.”
International mediators have invited Israel and Hamas to resume talks towards a long-sought ceasefire and hostage-release deal, after the Gaza conflict sparked fears of a wider conflict.
Israel has accepted the invitation from the United States, Qatar and Egypt for a round of talks planned for Thursday.
Hamas said Sunday it wanted the implementation of a truce plan laid out by Biden on May 31 and later endorsed by the UN Security Council, “rather than going through more negotiation rounds or new proposals”.
Hamas “demands that the mediators present a plan to implement what they proposed to the movement… based on Biden’s vision and the UN Security Council resolution, and compel the (Israeli) occupation to comply”, it said.
The Palestinian group has criticized ongoing negotiations and urged mediators to enforce Biden’s truce plan rather than pursuing additional rounds of talks.
Biden’s plan, initially unveiled on May 31 and later endorsed by the UN Security Council, proposes a three-phase roadmap aimed at achieving a lasting ceasefire and securing the release of all hostages. The first phase includes a full ceasefire lasting six weeks, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated Gaza areas, and an exchange of hostages.
Subsequent phases focus on the complete release of hostages, negotiations for a permanent end to hostilities, and a comprehensive reconstruction plan for Gaza.
Despite the proposed roadmap, mediation efforts have so far failed to produce an agreement, and the conflict continues to claim lives and exacerbate humanitarian crises.
Hamas has recently appointed Yahya Sinwar as its new Gaza chief following the assassination of the former political leader and truce negotiator Ismail Haniyeh on July 31 in Tehran. Haniyeh’s killing, attributed to an attack by Israel intensified fears of a broader regional conflict.
The assassination, coupled with Israel’s killing of Hezbollah’s military chief Fuad Shukr, has fueled additional regional tensions.
On Saturday, an Israeli airstrike on Gaza’s Al-Tabieen school, which was sheltering displaced Palestinians, resulted in the deaths of at least 93 people, according to local civil defence reports. Gaza officials confirmed the identification of 75 bodies from this strike.
Since October 7, Israel has launched a relentless bombardment campaign in Gaza killing at least 39,897 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to a new toll from the territory’s health ministry.
Hamas in its Sunday statement cited the Israeli “massacre against the displaced at Al-Tabieen school” and “our responsibilities towards our people and their interests” as the reasons for its announcement on the ceasefire plan.
Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and other regional allies have vowed retaliation against Israel for Haniyeh’s killing and that of Hezbollah’s military chief Fuad Shukr.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered an aircraft carrier group to hasten its arrival in the Middle East, the Pentagon said Sunday. Austin also ordered the USS Georgia guided missile submarine to the area, a Pentagon spokesman said.
In Khan Younis, southern Gaza’s main city already ravaged by months of Israeli bombardment, hundreds of Palestinians had fled northern neighbourhoods after Israel issued fresh evacuation orders.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said that “just in the past few days, more than 75,000 Palestinians have been displaced in southwest Gaza”, where Khan Younis is located.
The entire Gaza Strip has a population of about 2.4 million people.
Families gathered their meagre belongings as crowds of people left the Al-Jalaa district, some loading mattresses, clothing and cooking utensils into pick-up trucks. Others took to the road on foot or left on donkey-drawn carts.
