PALESTINIAN PROTESTS OVER CONDITIONS IN GAZA
Once the temporary ceasefire begins, the proposal is for Hamas and Israel to begin negotiations on a permanent ceasefire that would include the return of the remaining hostages.
Palestinians staged a rare show of protest against the war on Thursday, in a growing sign of despair at the conditions in Gaza.
Carrying banners reading “Save Gaza, enough” and “Gaza is dying by the killing, hunger and oppression,” hundreds of people rallied in Gaza City in a march organised by several civil unions.
“This is for a clear message: words are finished, and the time has come for action to stop the military operations, to stop the genocide against our people and to stop the massacres taking place daily,” said Palestinian journalist Tawfik Abu Jarad during the protest.
The Gaza health ministry said at least 70 people had been killed in Israeli fire in the enclave in the past 24 hours, including eight people in a house in the Sabra suburb in Gaza City.
A statement from the Palestinian Fatah movement said one of those killed in Sabra was a Fatah leader and former militant, along with seven members of his family. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
CEASEFIRE OR CAPTURE OF GAZA CITY?
Israeli officials are indicating that there is time for a ceasefire to be reached, even though its military begins its preparations to launch the assault on Gaza City,
Some Palestinian families in Gaza City have left for shelters along the coast, while others have moved to central and southern parts of the enclave, according to residents there.
“We are facing a bitter, bitter situation: to die at home or leave and die somewhere else. As long as this war continues, survival is uncertain,” said Rabah Abu Elias, 67, a father of seven.
“In the news, they speak about a possible truce, on the ground, we only hear explosions and see deaths. To leave Gaza City or not isn’t an easy decision to make,” he told Reuters by phone.
On Thursday, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X that the military had started making what he said were initial warning calls to medical and international organisations operating in Gaza’s north, telling them that Gaza City residents should start to prepare to move out of the city and towards the south.
Adraee shared a recording of what he said was an Israeli officer telling a Gazan health ministry official that hospitals in southern Gaza should also prepare to receive patients from medical facilities in the north, who will be forced to evacuate.
A Gaza health ministry official confirmed the phone call had taken place. The ministry rejected the Israeli request to shift medical resources south, warning it would cripple the already devastated health system and endanger over a million residents. It urged international bodies to intervene and protect lifesaving care.
Two more people have died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the ministry said on Thursday. The new deaths raised the number of Palestinians who have died from such causes to 271, including 112 children, since the war began.
