As Israeli operations expanded across the war-torn Gaza Strip, more than 240 Palestinians have been killed in the territory in the last 24 hours, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The Israel Defence Force (IDF) said that it struck over 100 sites on Tuesday, amid concerns that it is expanding its ground operations in central Gaza.
The Gaza health ministry reported that at least 241 people were killed and 382 others were wounded in the strip, with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denouncing the war as a "great crime" against his people, BBC reported. Additionally, six Palestinians were killed in an Israeli drone strike overnight in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the Tulkarem area of the occupied West Bank region.
Calling the attacks unprecedented in the history of the Palestinian people, Abbas said that the territory has become unrecognisable and that the Israeli operations in Gaza were "beyond a catastrophe" and "beyond a war of annihilation".
At least 20,915 people have been killed - two-thirds of them women and children - in Gaza, according to the health ministry, as the war has continued past 11 weeks since the deadly Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 that killed 1,200 people and 240 people were taken captives.
'Israel's war to last months'
Meanwhile, Israel's Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said that the war could last for "many months" to ensure that Israel's "achievements are preserved for a long time". His statements come at a time when several incidents of confrontation outside Gaza have risked the conflict spreading to other regions beyond Israel and Palestine.
"There are no magic solutions, there are no shortcuts in dismantling a terrorist organization, only determined and persistent fighting. We will reach Hamas' leadership too, whether it takes a week or if it takes months," Halevi said. Israel is determined to destroy Hamas despite global calls for a ceasefire in the 11-week-old war.
IDF troops have also expanded their ground offensive into urban refugee camps in central Gaza after bombarding the crowded Palestinian communities and ordering residents to evacuate. Despite US calling for Israel to curb civilian casualties and international pressure for a cease-fire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military was deepening the fighting.
Israel-UN tensions
The war has also seen growing animosity between Israel and the United Nations, with the latter repeatedly calling for a ceasefire and increasing deliveries of humanitarian aid to the citizens of Gaza. Now, Israel said that it would no longer grant automatic visas to UN employees and accused the world body of being “complicit partners” in Hamas’ tactics.
Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy said Israel would consider visa requests case by case, which can further limit aid efforts in Gaza. Nearly all the enclave's 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes, many several times.
Gaza authorities buried 80 unidentified Palestinians on Tuesday whose bodies were handed over by Israel through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, the health ministry said. Israel says it is doing what it can to protect civilians, and blames Hamas for putting them in harm's way by operating among them, which Hamas denies.
In the meantime, Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said several countries had sent proposals to resolve the conflict following news of an Egyptian proposal that would include a transitional Palestinian government in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
(with inputs from agencies)
