Israel presses on with offensive in Gaza as mediators seek truce

Cairo/Gaza, July 11

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Residents of Gaza City were trapped in houses and bodies lay uncollected in the streets under an intense new Israeli assault on Thursday, even as Washington pushed for a peace deal at talks in Egypt and Qatar.

Hamas says a heavy Israeli assault on Gaza City this week could wreck efforts to finally end the war just as negotiations have entered the home stretch. In a statement, the Palestinian Islamist militant group said mediators had yet to provide it with updates on the state of the talks since it made concessions last week in response to a US-backed Israeli peace offer.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the head of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency was headed to Cairo for more ceasefire talks. Residents of Gaza City say this week’s assault is comparable to the fiercest battle of the war, which destroyed the enclave’s oldest and biggest settlement in the first weeks of fighting last year.

The Civil Emergency Service said at least 30 people had been killed in Tel Al-Hawa and Rimal. — Reuters