jfid – Israel has intensified its ground operation in the Gaza Strip, sending troops and tanks to every part of the besieged Palestinian territory.
The Israeli military said it had struck over 200 Hamas targets overnight, including a school, a mosque and a hospital.
The escalation came after a temporary ceasefire expired on Friday, and Hamas resumed rocket fire into Israel.
The Israeli invasion, which began on October 27, has killed more than 15,500 people, mostly civilians, in Gaza, according to health officials.
More than 100,000 people have been displaced and many are living in makeshift shelters or UN-run schools.
The UN has warned of a humanitarian catastrophe and called for an immediate end to the hostilities.
The Israeli government has said its goal is to destroy Hamas’s military infrastructure and restore security to its citizens.
It has accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields and hiding weapons in civilian buildings.
Israel has also blamed Hamas for starting the war by launching a cross-border raid into Israel on October 7, killing six soldiers and taking over 200 hostages.
Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls Gaza, has said it is fighting to end the Israeli blockade of the coastal enclave, which has been in place since 2007.
It has also demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners and the lifting of Israeli restrictions on movement, trade and fishing.
Hamas has fired over 4,000 rockets into Israel since the war began, killing 75 people and injuring hundreds more.
The international community has expressed deep concern over the civilian suffering and the violation of international law in Gaza. US Vice President Kamala Harris, who spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday, said she was “deeply concerned about the impact of the conflict on innocent civilians, especially children”. She also called for “support in the recovery and strengthening of Palestinian security forces”.
The UN Security Council, which met for the fourth time on Sunday to discuss the crisis, failed to agree on a joint statement calling for a ceasefire. China, which holds the rotating presidency of the council, blamed the US for blocking the statement, saying it was “standing on the opposite side of international justice”.
Meanwhile, protests and solidarity rallies have erupted in many countries around the world, denouncing the Israeli aggression and supporting the Palestinian cause. Some of the protests have turned violent, with clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators, as well as attacks on synagogues and mosques.
The war in Gaza has also sparked tensions in Israel itself, where Arab and Jewish citizens have clashed in several mixed cities, leading to arrests, injuries and deaths. The Israeli police have declared a state of emergency and deployed thousands of officers and border guards to restore order.
As the fighting rages on, there seems to be little hope for a diplomatic solution. Both sides have rejected the Egyptian-mediated ceasefire proposal, which was endorsed by the US and the Arab League. The proposal called for an immediate halt to hostilities, followed by talks on the underlying issues of the conflict.
The Israeli invasion of Gaza is the fourth major war between Israel and Hamas since 2008. The previous wars, in 2008-2009, 2012 and 2014, also resulted in heavy casualties and destruction, but failed to resolve the long-standing conflict or improve the living conditions of the people in Gaza.
