Dozens killed in Gaza as Rafah assault looks imminent
Published: 05:04 PM,Apr 12,2024 | EDITED : 09:04 PM,Apr 12,2024
People sit amid rubble during Eid Al Fitr, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza City on Friday. - Reuters
GAZA: Israeli forces fought Palestinians in the north and centre of the Gaza Strip on Friday as Khaled Meshaal, a senior official in Hamas movement, said its six-month-old battle with Israel would 'break the enemy soon'.
Most Israeli troops have been pulled out of the Palestinian enclave in preparation for an assault on its southernmost city Rafah, where more than one million Palestinians are sheltering, but fighting has continued in various areas.
Residents of Al Nusseirat camp in central Gaza said dozens were dead or wounded after Israeli bombardment from air, land and sea that had followed a surprise ground assault on Thursday, and that houses and two mosques had been destroyed.
Health officials said earlier that six people had been killed in strikes on the cinder-block camp, which has housed Palestinian refugee families since 1948, with around 70 wounded, including three Palestinian journalists.
In Gaza City, Palestinian health officials said at least 25 people had been killed and several wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Al Daraj neighbourhood. Gaza's health ministry said 89 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli military strikes in the space of 24 hours.
In a statement, Hamas said Israel's bombardment in Al Nusseirat targeted civilian homes and property 'after failing to achieve any military accomplishment on the ground or to implement any of its criminal agendas by displacing our people'.
'This is not the final round,' Meshaal said, referring to the current war. 'It is an important round on the path of liberating Palestine and defeating the Zionist project.'
At least 33,634 Palestinians, including 89 in the past 24 hours, have been killed since the Israeli offensive began, Gaza's health ministry said in an update on Friday, with most of the 2.3 million population displaced and much of the densely populated enclave demolished.
Deflecting repeated US calls for restraint, Israel vows to storm Rafah.
In the latest sign that an Israeli assault on Rafah could be imminent, warplanes dropped leaflets on a western neighbourhood asking for information about the captives.
'To residents of Tel Al-Sultan, look carefully around you, the captives could be somewhere near you. If you want to protect your families and your future, don’t hesitate to provide us with any information about the captives and their captors,” the leaflets read.
Meanwhile, Norway says it is ready to recognise a Palestinian state together with other countries, its prime minister said on Friday while hosting Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez, who is seeking support for the cause.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told reporters that such a decision would need to be taken in close coordination with 'like-minded countries'.
'Norway stands ready to recognise the state of Palestine,' Store told a joint press conference with Sanchez.
'We have not set a firm timetable,' Store added.
In November, Norway's parliament adopted a government proposal for the country to be prepared to recognise an independent Palestinian state.
Norway also hosted Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at the beginning of the 1990s, which led to the Oslo Accords.
Sanchez is currently on a tour of Poland, Norway and Ireland this week to drum up support for the recognition of a Palestinian state, according to a Spanish government spokesperson.
Speaking alongside Store, Sanchez said Spain was 'committed to recognising Palestine as a state, as soon as possible, when the conditions are appropriate, and in a way that can have the most positive impact to the peace process.'
On March 22, Spain issued a statement with Ireland, Malta and Slovenia on the sidelines of an EU leaders summit, saying they were 'ready to recognise Palestine' in a move that would happen when 'the circumstances are right'.
Last week, Sanchez told reporters travelling with him on his Middle East tour that he hoped it would happen by the end of June. - Agencies
Most Israeli troops have been pulled out of the Palestinian enclave in preparation for an assault on its southernmost city Rafah, where more than one million Palestinians are sheltering, but fighting has continued in various areas.
Residents of Al Nusseirat camp in central Gaza said dozens were dead or wounded after Israeli bombardment from air, land and sea that had followed a surprise ground assault on Thursday, and that houses and two mosques had been destroyed.
Health officials said earlier that six people had been killed in strikes on the cinder-block camp, which has housed Palestinian refugee families since 1948, with around 70 wounded, including three Palestinian journalists.
In Gaza City, Palestinian health officials said at least 25 people had been killed and several wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Al Daraj neighbourhood. Gaza's health ministry said 89 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli military strikes in the space of 24 hours.
In a statement, Hamas said Israel's bombardment in Al Nusseirat targeted civilian homes and property 'after failing to achieve any military accomplishment on the ground or to implement any of its criminal agendas by displacing our people'.
'This is not the final round,' Meshaal said, referring to the current war. 'It is an important round on the path of liberating Palestine and defeating the Zionist project.'
At least 33,634 Palestinians, including 89 in the past 24 hours, have been killed since the Israeli offensive began, Gaza's health ministry said in an update on Friday, with most of the 2.3 million population displaced and much of the densely populated enclave demolished.
Deflecting repeated US calls for restraint, Israel vows to storm Rafah.
In the latest sign that an Israeli assault on Rafah could be imminent, warplanes dropped leaflets on a western neighbourhood asking for information about the captives.
'To residents of Tel Al-Sultan, look carefully around you, the captives could be somewhere near you. If you want to protect your families and your future, don’t hesitate to provide us with any information about the captives and their captors,” the leaflets read.
Meanwhile, Norway says it is ready to recognise a Palestinian state together with other countries, its prime minister said on Friday while hosting Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez, who is seeking support for the cause.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told reporters that such a decision would need to be taken in close coordination with 'like-minded countries'.
'Norway stands ready to recognise the state of Palestine,' Store told a joint press conference with Sanchez.
'We have not set a firm timetable,' Store added.
In November, Norway's parliament adopted a government proposal for the country to be prepared to recognise an independent Palestinian state.
Norway also hosted Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at the beginning of the 1990s, which led to the Oslo Accords.
Sanchez is currently on a tour of Poland, Norway and Ireland this week to drum up support for the recognition of a Palestinian state, according to a Spanish government spokesperson.
Speaking alongside Store, Sanchez said Spain was 'committed to recognising Palestine as a state, as soon as possible, when the conditions are appropriate, and in a way that can have the most positive impact to the peace process.'
On March 22, Spain issued a statement with Ireland, Malta and Slovenia on the sidelines of an EU leaders summit, saying they were 'ready to recognise Palestine' in a move that would happen when 'the circumstances are right'.
Last week, Sanchez told reporters travelling with him on his Middle East tour that he hoped it would happen by the end of June. - Agencies