GAZA CITY: In a devastating escalation of violence, the Israeli military has killed over 700 innocent Palestinian civilians during airstrikes in the Gaza Strip within the past 24 hours, the Director General of the Government Media Office in Gaza said. The casualties resulted from Israeli air raids, which intensified after the expiry of a seven-day truce on Friday.
The Israeli army has ordered additional evacuations in and around the Gaza Strip’s second-largest city, Khan Younis, as part of its ongoing military operations. The director general also reported that more than 1.5 million people have been displaced in the Gaza Strip due to the relentless Israeli bombardment.
Israel has justified its brutal actions, referring to the strikes as targeting “Hamas infrastructure targets.”
Over 1.5 million Palestinian people have been displaced, most of them from northern Gaza, since the Israeli military launched airstrikes and ground invasion on October 7. Overnight and into Sunday, intense airstrikes were reported in Rafah, Khan Younis, and some northern parts of the Gaza Strip targeted by Israel’s air and ground attacks.
The main hospital in the Khan Younis area received at least three dead and several wounded on Sunday morning from an Israeli air raid that targeted a residential building in the eastern part of the city, the Associated Press reported.
Meanwhile, the bodies of 31 Palestinian people killed in Israeli bombardment across the central areas of the Gaza Strip were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir el-Balah, Omar al-Darawi, an administrative employee at the hospital said.
International pressure for a ceasefire has been mounting, with negotiators working to reintroduce a pause in the ongoing Israeli bombardments. However, the prospects for a renewed ceasefire appear bleak, as both Hamas and Israel blame each other for the collapse of the previous seven-day truce. Israel has been accused of not fulfilling the terms of the earlier truce.
Pope Francis Deplores Breaking of Gaza Truce
Pope Francis expressed deep concern on Sunday over the breakdown of the truce between Israel and Hamas, describing it as “painful.” During his Sunday Angelus message, delivered from his Vatican residence, the Pope called on all parties involved to swiftly reach a new ceasefire agreement.
The Pope also highlighted his thoughts for those still held hostage in Gaza and emphasized the dire lack of basic necessities in the Palestinian territory. Pope Francis, who is currently suffering from lung inflammation, had his words conveyed by an aide, deviating from his usual practice of delivering the message from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
