GAZA
\nIsraeli strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 23 Palestinians on Tuesday, local health officials said, as the Israeli military expanded evacuation orders to tens of thousands of residents across the enclave.
\nThe Israeli military resumed its campaign against Hamas in Gaza a week ago, shattering a two-month ceasefire. Since then, nearly 700 people, mostly women and children, have been killed, Palestinian health officials say.
\nMost of Gaza\u2019s 2.3 million population has already been displaced by the fighting multiple times during nearly 18 months of conflict and is facing worsening shortages of food and water after Israel suspended aid deliveries earlier this month.
\nOn Tuesday, the Israeli army told residents in all northern border towns to evacuate, saying Palestinian rockets had been fired at Israel from the area. The affected towns include Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Shejaia in Gaza City. Orders were also issued for areas in Khan Younis and Rafah in the south.
\nPalestinian and United Nations officials say there are no safe areas in the Gaza Strip.
\nHamas, which accuses Israel of abandoning the Jan 19 ceasefire deal, said it was cooperating with a new effort, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, to restore calm and conclude the three-phase ceasefire agreement. According to some Hamas sources, there has been no breakthrough.
\nUN cut
\nThe United Nations is cutting its international staff in Gaza by around a third, a UN spokesperson said on Tuesday, citing safety concerns. \u201cWe are trying to reduce the number of international staff by about one third and this is really because the Secretary General (Antonio Guterres) doesn\u2019t have the power of guaranteeing the safety of UN staff,\u201d UN spokesperson Alessandra Vellucci told a Geneva press briefing, saying that this meant around 30 of 100 international staff.
\nThe agencies affected included the World Food Programme, the World Health Organisation and the UN children\u2019s agency, she added.
\nSeizing Gaza
\n\u201cIsrael will take more territory in Gaza and fight until Hamas is wiped out if the Palestinian group Hamas keeps refusing to free remaining hostages\u201d, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday.
\nHe spoke as mediators continued efforts to salvage Gaza\u2019s ceasefire deal shattered by Israel\u2019s renewal of air and ground conflict on March 18 after it and Hamas failed to agree on terms for an extension of the two-month-old truce.
\nIsrael has said it will never again accept Hamas governance and military power in Gaza following Oct 7, 2023 raid.
\nThe Israeli military said last week that its forces had begun a focused ground operation in the central and southern Gaza Strip after it resumed bombardments in the besieged enclave that have killed hundreds of Palestinians.
\n\u201cIf Hamas continues with its intransigence, it will pay heavy prices that get higher and higher in the taking of territory (by Israel) and in taking out militants and terror infrastructure until its complete surrender,\u201d Katz said in a video reported by Israeli media.
\nThe latest campaign of Israel against Gaza has been among the deadliest since the conflict began 17 months ago, splintering a shaky ceasefire that had largely prevailed since it went into effect on Jan 19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GAZA Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 23 Palestinians on Tuesday, local health officials said, as the Israeli military expanded evacuation orders to tens of thousands of residents across the enclave. The Israeli military resumed its campaign against Hamas in Gaza a week ago, shattering a two-month ceasefire. Since then, nearly 700 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469465,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-469439","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n