200 killed as Israel strikes southern Gaza

Khan Younis, December 2

Israel pounded targets in the crowded southern half of the Gaza Strip on Saturday and ordered more neighbourhoods designated for attack to evacuate, driving up the death toll even as the United States and others urged it to do more to protect Gaza civilians.

At least 200 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting resumed on Friday morning following a weeklong truce with the territory’s ruling militant group Hamas, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.

Separately, the ministry announced that the overall death toll in Gaza since the October 7 start of the Israel-Hamas war surpassed 15,200, a sharp jump from the previous count of more than 13,300. The ministry had stopped issuing daily updates of the overall toll on November 11, following war-related disruptions of connectivity and hospital operations.

The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but said on Saturday that 70 per cent of the dead were women and children. It said more than 40,000 people were wounded over the past two months.

With the collapse of the temporary truce, Israel had been urged by the United States, its closest ally, to do more to protect Palestinian civilians.

The appeal came after a blistering air and ground offensive in the first weeks of the war devastated large areas of northern Gaza, killing thousands of Palestinians and displacing hundreds of thousands. Some 2 million Palestinians, almost the entire population of Gaza, are now crammed into the southern half of the territory.

It was not clear if Israel’s military would heed appeals made Friday by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for more surgical strikes as it shifts its focus to southern Gaza. French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai on Saturday that while he acknowledges Israel’s right to defend itself, “there is no right to attack civilians.” The Israeli military said Saturday that it hit more than 400 Hamas targets across Gaza over the past day, using airstrikes and shelling from tanks and navy gunships. This included more than 50 strikes in the city of Khan Younis and surrounding areas in the southern half of Gaza.

Several houses and buildings were hit. At least nine people, including three children, were killed in a strike on a house in the city of Deir al-Balah in the south, according to the hospital where the bodies were taken. The hospital also received seven bodies of others killed in overnight airstrikes, including two children.

Meanwhile, Palestinian militant groups in Gaza said they fired a barrage of rockets on southern Israel. Sirens were heard in communities near the Gaza Strip but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Mossad agents negotiating the renewal of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas left Qatar on Saturday due to an impasse in the talks.

“Due to the impasse in negotiations and following instructions from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mossad chief David Barnea ordered his team in Doha to return to Israel,” the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement on Saturday night.

“Hamas did not fulfill its obligations under the agreement, including releasing all the women and children in accordance with a list provided to Hamas and approved by it,”the statement added. — Agencies

Chance for peace in conflict lost for now

• Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan said the chance for peace in Gaza after the humanitarian pause was lost for now due to what he described as Israel’s uncompromising approach
• “We have always emphasised that we are in favour of a ceasefire...There was an opportunity for peace here, but unfortunately, we have lost this opportunity for now,” Erdogan said

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