Israeli tanks advance deep into southern Gaza New evacuation ordersPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the terms of a hostage exchange agreement were “maturing.”
Israeli military officials said the latest Deployment in Khan YunisWith the area once again under heavy fire, further support is needed to prevent Hamas from regrouping in its southern heartland.
“The Israeli Air Force and (Israel Defense Forces) artillery units struck more than 30 terror-related sites in Khan Yunis early today, including the source from which shells were fired towards Nirim in southern Israel,” the army said.
The Jewish state issued a new set of evacuation orders on Monday and Tuesday, and the Hamas-run Health Ministry reported on Monday that subsequent tank and aircraft attacks in the area had killed at least 70 people.
The Health Ministry said a further 200 people were wounded in the latest attacks, without distinguishing between Hamas and civilians in its tally.
Struggling United Nations Relief Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)) said the attacks and evacuations had caused chaos in Khan Yunis, home to hundreds of thousands of refugees displaced by fighting in the north.
“The situation is intolerable,” the group said in a statement. “People are exhausted by constant displacement and uninhabitable conditions, confined to increasingly small and overcrowded areas.”
The developments in Khan Yunis came during Netanyahu’s visit to the United States, where he told an entourage of former and current hostages’ families that a ceasefire agreement with Hamas was near.
“The conditions are definitely coming together, which is a good sign,” he told a conference in the US capital.
The U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal has gained renewed momentum in recent weeks as Israeli and Hamas negotiators work out the details of the plan with Egyptian and Qatari mediators.
The plan, presented by President Joe Biden, seeks to immediately halt fighting in Gaza and lay the groundwork for an exchange to free some 120 hostages still being held by Hamas.
“Unfortunately, it won’t be done all at once, it will be done in stages, but I believe we can move forward with an agreement,” Netanyahu said.
The prime minister is due to discuss the Gaza war in parliament on Wednesday and then meet with Netanyahu. Plans to meet with Biden He plans to return to Israel by the end of the week.
Since dropping out of the 2024 race, Biden, 81, has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic nomination.
Harris, 59, will not attend Netanyahu’s address to lawmakers because of a planned event in Indianapolis. Politico reported.
Instead, she will reportedly hold bilateral talks with the prime minister and express her view that the time has come to end the war that has lasted for nearly 10 months. According to the Telegraph.
