Gaza war in its 12th month with truce hopes slim

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Gaza war in its 12th month with truce hopes slim

The war between ******* and ****** in Gaza entered its 12 month Saturday with little sign of respite for the ************ territory or hope for ******** hostages still held captive.

The chances of a truce that would also free hostages held by ****** in exchange for prisoners held by ******* appear slim, with both sides sticking doggedly to their positions.

******, whose October 7 ******* on ******* sparked the war, is demanding a complete ******** withdrawal, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that troops must remain on a key strip of land along the Gaza-Egypt border.

The ******* States, Qatar and Egypt have all been mediating in an effort to bring about a ceasefire in the war that authorities in the ******-run Gaza say has ******* at least 40,939 people.

According to the ******* Nations human rights office, most of the ***** are women and children.

******’s October 7 ******* on ******* resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians including some hostages ******* in captivity, according to official ******** figures.

Of 251 hostages seized by ************ militants during the *******, 97 remain in Gaza including 33 the ******** military says are *****.

Scores were released during a one-week truce in November.

*******’s announcement last Sunday that the bodies of six hostages including a US-******** citizen had been recovered shortly after being ******* sparked grief and anger in *******.

Marking the anniversary, UN ************ ******** agency (UNRWA) chief Philippe Lazzarini posted on X on Saturday: “Eleven months. Enough. No one can take this any longer. Humanity must prevail. Ceasefire now.”

International pressure to end the war was further underlined by Friday’s ********* ***** in the West Bank of a Turkish-********* activist demonstrating against ******** settlements in the occupied territory.

The family of 26-year-old Aysenur Ezgi Eygi has demanded an independent investigation into her ******, saying on Saturday her life “was taken needlessly, unlawfully, and violently by the ******** military”.

The UN rights office said ******** forces ******* Eygi with a “shot in the head”.

Ankara said she was ******* by “******** occupation soldiers”, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the ******** action as “barbaric”.

Washington called her ****** “tragic”, and has pressed its close ally ******* to investigate.

– West Bank raid –

******** settlements in the West Bank — where about 490,000 people live — are ******** under international law.

Since ******’s October 7 *******, ******** troops or settlers have ******* more than 662 Palestinians in the West Bank which ******* occupied in 1967, according to the ************ health ministry.

At least 23 Israelis, including members of the security forces, have been ******* in ************ attacks during the same *******, ******** officials say.

Eygi’s ****** came on the day ******** forces withdrew from a deadly 10-day raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, where AFP journalists reported residents returning home to widespread destruction.

The Jenin pullout came with ******* at loggerheads with the ******* States over talks to forge a truce in the Gaza war.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday “90 percent is agreed” and urged ******* and ****** to finalise a deal.

But Netanyahu denied this, telling Fox News: “It’s not close.”

****** is demanding *******’s complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, saying it agreed months ago to a proposal outlined by US President Joe Biden.

AFP reporters said several air strikes and shelling rocked the territory overnight and early Saturday.

Gaza’s civil defence agency and the ************ Red Crescent said an ******** air strike ******* four people near the Nuseirat ******** camp in central Gaza.

The civil defence and a witness said an air strike that targeted a flat in Bureij camp ******* another four.

And in Jabalia, an ******** air strike ******* four more Palestinians, civil defence officials said.

They added that a woman and a child were also ******* in an air strike north of Gaza City.

Medics reported at least 33 Palestinians wounded in an air strike on a residential area in Beit Lahia and said they were being treated at Al-Awda, Kamal Adwan and Indonesian hospitals.

burs-srm/dcp

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Gaza #war #12th #month #truce #hopes #slim

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up