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JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel said on Saturday it launched a major military operation in the Gaza Strip to put pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a negotiating team to continue indirect negotiations with militant groups in Qatar.
Defense Minister Katz said the Gideon Chariot Operation was led by “a huge force.” Netanyahu vowed to escalate the pressure with the goal of destroying the radical groups that ruled Gaza for nearly two decades.
Military operations in the Palestinian territory come the day after U.S. President Donald Trump ended his trip to the Middle East without visiting Israel. It is hoped that his visit will increase the chances of a ceasefire agreement or restore humanitarian aid to Gaza, an opportunity Israel has prevented for more than two months.
Netanyahu kept in touch with the negotiation teams of Doha, Qatar and U.S. envoy Steve Witkov throughout the day and directed the team to stay there, an Israeli official said. Officials spoke on anonymous because he had no right to discuss sensitive negotiations with the media.
Hamas released Israeli-Americans as a gesture of goodwill before Trump’s trip, insisting on a deal to end the war and causing the evacuation of Israeli forces – which Israel said was disagreeable.
Israel’s army said on social media that it will not stop until the hostages return and the militant group is removed. Israel believes that as many as 23 hostages in Gaza are still alive, although Israeli authorities are concerned about three of them.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 150 people have been killed during the Israeli strike in the past 24 hours. It said more than 3,000 people have been killed since Israel broke the January ceasefire on March 18.
An Israeli strike killed at least four children in a northern Jabbaria refugee camp on Saturday afternoon, according to the Al-Awda Hospital, which received the body. Seven other people on the strike were injured and attacked the house. The hospital said four people were later killed in a strike in Jabaliya.
“It’s unacceptable. Until when? Until all of us die?” asked Naji Awaisa’s sweaty street as he and others fled the streets of Jabaliya, their belongings lined up the streets. Smoke from the air strikes in the distance rose in the distance.
Air strikes around Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza killed 14 people and the bodies arrived at Al-Aqsa Hospital. A house strike killed eight people, including parents and four children.
The Ministry of Health’s Emergency Services of Gaza said a strike attack on displaced persons in a school shelter in Gaza, killing four people.
There was no immediate comment on the strike. Another statement said the military killed dozens of soldiers while on an “underground route” in northern Gaza.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, some holding pictures of Palestinian children killed in Gaza, while others demanded a deal to end the war and take all hostages home.
Dalia Kushnir-Horn said: “Let me keep it clear. The whole society of Israel, left, right, secular, religious, calls for a hostage deal. Missing this moment will be a betrayal of history, and this stain will never go away.”
The third month of Israel’s lockdown
Gaza is in its third month of Israel’s lockdown, with no food, water, fuel or other goods entering the territory of more than 2 million people. Food security experts say Gaza will fall into famine without a lockdown.
Earlier this week, a new humanitarian organization asked us to support taking over aid delivery, saying it hopes to start operations by the end of this month in a key agreement with Israeli officials. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has identified several U.S. veterans, former humanitarian coordinators and safety contractors to lead the effort.
Many in the humanitarian community, including the United Nations, said they would not participate because the system does not align with humanitarian principles and will not meet the needs of Palestinians in Gaza.
Tom Fletcher, the head of humanitarianism, said Friday that there is already an aid delivery program with 160,000 pallets ready for the replenishment of the move: “If we are just allowed to work, we can be activated – today – today.”
The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 people. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, Israel’s retaliatory offensive killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, many of whom were women and children, and the ministry did not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
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Madi reported on Cairo. Tia Goldenberg contributed to the report in Tel Aviv, Israel.
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Follow AP’s war reports, the URL is https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war