AL JAZEERA
Israel’s attacks on Gaza have stretched into a second day after a seven-day truce with Hamas ended, as talks continue with the Palestinian group to renew a pause in hostilities under the mediation of Qatar and Egypt.
The city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where thousands of civilians moved from the north of the enclave, came under intense bombardment on Friday, when the weeklong truce expired, and intensified on Saturday.
Clouds of grey smoke from the strikes hung over Gaza, where the Hamas-run Ministry of Health said more than 190 people had been killed and hundreds were wounded in renewed Israeli bombardment.
Israel said its ground, air and naval forces struck more than 400 targets in Gaza in its latest attacks. It also called on people to evacuate from Khan Younis as it expands its military operations, urging them to move southwards towards Rafah, close to the border with Egypt.
Each of the warring sides blamed the other for the truce collapse by rejecting terms to extend the daily release of hostages held by Hamas fighters in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
‘Hell on Earth’
The United Nations said the fighting would worsen the extreme humanitarian emergency in Gaza.
“Hell on Earth has returned to Gaza,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office in Geneva.
“Today, in a matter of hours, scores were reportedly killed and injured. Families were told to evacuate, again. Hopes were dashed,” said UN aid chief Martin Griffiths, adding that children, women and men of Gaza had “nowhere safe to go and very little to survive on”.
