CAIRO (AP) — Israel attacked Gaza city and killed more than 40 people in refugee camps, including 19 women and children, health officials said on Sunday as several European countries and US allies moved to recognize the Palestinian state.
Health officials at Shifa Hospital, where most of the bodies were brought in, said the deaths were 14 people killed in the strike late Saturday, struck a residential block on the south side of the city. Health staff said the nurse who worked at the hospital was among the dead along with his wife and three children.
Another strike targeting a group of people in front of a clinic in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed at least eight Palestinians, according to Al-Awda Hospital. The deaths include four children and two women, the hospital said. A further 22 people were said to have been injured.
Israel did not comment on the strike.
Anti-war protests in Israel
The latest Israeli military operation launched this week will further escalate the conflict that has disrupted the Middle East and pushed the ceasefire even further out of reach. Israeli Army I told the Palestinians to leavebut there were signs that it could take several months, although they didn’t give you a timeline for attacks. Israel says the operation is intended to put Hamas on the release and surrender of hostages.
Prior to the UN General Assembly, Israeli peace activists have welcomed the planned recognition of the Palestinian state. On Sunday, a group of over 60 Jewish and Arab organisations representing around 1,000 activists called for the end of the war, the release of hostages and recognition of the Palestinian state, including several veteran organisations that promote peace and coexistence, known as the Union of the Times.
“We refuse to live forever with the sword. The UN decision provides a vibrant, historical opportunity from the trap of death.
On Saturday night, tens of thousands of Israel protested, calling for an end to the war and a hostage trade.
However, the ceasefire remains elusive. Israeli artillery fires have been killed for the past 23 months Over 65,000 people In Gaza, it destroyed vast areas of the strip, expelled about 90% of its population, causing a devastating humanitarian crisis. Experts say Gaza city is experiencing hunger.
Netanyahu says the Palestinian province “doesn’t happen”
On Sunday, Australia, Canada and the UK announced their formal recognition of the Palestinian state. British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer The move was “intended to revive the hopes of peace between the Palestinians and Israelis.” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the announcement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the establishment of a Palestinian state “will not happen.” In an angry statement after the announcement of a coordinated initiative from the federal state, he accused foreign leaders of giving Hamas the “award”.
“It won’t happen,” he said. “The Palestinian state, located west of the Jordan River, will not be established.”
Netanyahu said he will announce Israel’s response after a trip to the US next week.
Other prominent Western countries prepare Recognize the Palestinian state At a gathering of world leaders of United Nations General Assembly Mondays including France.
French President Emmanuel Macron It criticizes Israel’s actions in the war with Hamas and calls it a “failure” as the group continues to recruit more fighters. In a CBS interview on Sunday, Macron said Israel managed to kill Hamas leaders, but failed to dismantle it during nearly two years of conflict in Gaza. Macron told CBS that Israel’s approach undermines the country’s credibility by killing civilians, and that war creates “an unsustainable security framework across the region.”
A tragic humanitarian crisis
In a statement on Sunday, the military said it had killed Majed Abu Selmiyah. He says he is a sniper in Hamas’ military division and is preparing to launch more attacks in the Gaza city area without providing evidence.
Majed, the brother of Shifa Hospital director Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiyah, called the allegations a lie and said Israel was trying to justify the murder of civilians. Dr. Selmiya told the Associated Press that his brother, 57, suffers from high blood pressure, diabetes and has vision problems.
As the attack continued, Israel ordered hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza to move south into what is known as the Humane Belt, and opened another corridor south of the city to evacuate more people than this week.
Palestinians have escaped from Gaza city by car or on foot, but many don’t want to be uprooted again.
Along the coastal Wadi Gaza route, you will be able to hold your breath and give your children a much needed break from the difficult journey.
Aid groups warn that enforcing thousands of people to be evacuated will exacerbate a tragic humanitarian crisis. They are calling for a ceasefire, so aid can reach those in need.
Pope condemns Palestinians’ “forced exile”
Pope Leo XIV criticized his description of Palestinians as “forced exile” from Gaza, saying there is no future in the “martyr” Gaza Strip, based on violence and revenge.
In the midday blessing on Sunday, Leo issued another attraction to peace and expressed his gratitude for the work of the Catholic organization supporting the Palestinians, who had representatives in St. Peter’s Square.
The hostage family, still held by Hamas, accused Netanyahu of killing and destroying his loved one by continuing to fight, rather than negotiating an end to the war.
Israel in talks with Syria
Netanyahu told the cabinet meeting that Israel’s victory over Hezbollah in Lebanon “opened the window for the possibility of peace with its neighbors to the north.”
“We’re talking with Syrians – there’s some progress, but it’s still a vision for the future,” he said.
Israel has since occupied parts of southwestern Syria. Overthrow of then-Syrian President Bashar Assad In December. ties with the new Syrian government are tense, and Israel has been raiding airstrikes over the summer, saying it is a step towards protecting Syrian Druze communities.
Syrian interim president Ahmad Alshara said in an interview with Syrian Television on September 12 that negotiations with Israel for security transactions are still ongoing. He hopes that Israeli forces will return to where they were before the Assad government collapsed in 1974.
“Israel considered the collapse of its regime as Syria’s withdrawal from the 1974 agreement, despite Syria’s commitment from the start,” Alshara said.
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Authors of the Associated Press in Rome, Nicole Winfield, Kareem Chehayeb of Beirut, Joseph Federman of Jerusalem and Samuel Petrekin of Paris contributed to the report.
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