https://arab.news/bs9xs
GAZA STRIP: Prospects for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire dimmed on Sunday after the US signaled it would veto the latest push for a UN Security Council resolution and mediator Qatar acknowledged that separate truce talks have hit an impasse.
Efforts to pause the over four-month-old war languish as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to reject international appeals to spare Gaza鈥檚 southernmost city of Rafah, where around 1.4 million people have sought refuge.
Israel鈥檚 relentless campaign against Hamas militants has edged closer to the city.
At the morgue of a Rafah hospital, mourners bent down to give a final kiss to a loved one wrapped in a white body bag.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 my cousin 鈥� he was martyred in Al-Mawasi, in the 鈥榮afe area鈥�,鈥� said Ahmad Muhammad Aburizq. 鈥淎nd my mother was martyred the day before.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no safe place. Even the hospital is not safe.鈥� A total of 127 people died over the previous 24 hours, the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Sunday.
Even if a temporary truce deal is struck, Netanyahu said the ground invasion of Rafah will go ahead.
Countries urging Israel otherwise are effectively saying 鈥渓ose the war,鈥� argued the prime minister, whose coalition includes religious and ultra-nationalist parties.
Netanyahu spoke as thousands protested in Tel Aviv, the latest public call for an immediate election. They also accused the government of abandoning the hostages.
鈥淭ake politics out of decisions about our loved ones鈥� lives,鈥� demanded Nissan Calderon, brother of hostage Ofer Calderon. 鈥淭his is the moment of truth. There won鈥檛 be many more like it if the Cairo initiative collapses.鈥�
Israel鈥檚 military on Sunday said troops in the southern city of Khan Younis are still operating 鈥渋n the Nasser Hospital鈥� and adjacent to it where they 鈥渓ocated additional weapons.鈥� Israel has for weeks concentrated its military operations in Khan Younis, the hometown of Hamas鈥檚 Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, whom Israel accuses of masterminding the Oct. 7 attack.
On Sunday the military said it had killed around 35 militants, mostly by tank fire, and struck a 鈥渨eapons storage facility鈥� over the previous 24 hours. An air strike in central Gaza killed 鈥渙ver 10鈥� militants, it said.
The head of the UN humanitarian agency OCHA in the Palestinian territories, Andrea De Domenico, said he had 鈥渘o idea鈥� how an estimated 300,000 people still in Gaza鈥檚 north had survived.
The UN has cited 鈥渟ignificant restrictions鈥� on aid delivery to north Gaza while in Rafah there had been 鈥渞eports of people stopping aid trucks to take food.鈥�