No let-up in Gaza attacks despite UN resolution

Israeli troops battled Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip yesterday, with no sign of a let-up in the offensive despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an "immediate ceasefire".

Israeli air strikes killed at least 70 people in north and south Gaza early yesterday, according to the Gaza health ministry, including 18 in Israeli air strikes around the south Gazan city of Rafah, a key flashpoint in the offensive.

Dozens of Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles surrounded the Nasser Hospital, where thousands of displaced people have sought refuge from the fighting.

Witnesses told AFP yesterday that shots were being fired at the sprawling complex in the southern city of Khan Yunis.

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said Israeli troops were shooting and firing "shells and (conducting) violent raids in its surroundings in preparation for its storming".

"Thousands of displaced people are still inside the hospital," the ministry said. "They do not have sufficient quantities of drinking water, food and infant formula, and their lives are in danger."

For the past nine days, Israeli troops have been involved in heavy fighting in and around Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital, the territory's biggest. They claim to have killed 170 Hamas fighters there and arrested hundreds of others.

Twelve people have drowned and six been killed in stampedes trying to recover aid airdropped into Gaza, Hamas said yesterday. The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip yesterday put the Palestinian death toll at 32,414, most of them women and children.

Mediator Qatar said yesterday that talks between Hamas and Israel on a Gaza truce and hostage exchange are continuing, despite the warring parties trading blame over the lack of headway.

Since the UN Security Council adopted a resolution on Monday demanding an "immediate ceasefire", Hamas and Israel have traded blame for their failure to agree a deal.

Israeli warplanes have hit more than 60 targets across Gaza, mainly in support of the ground forces, according to the Israeli army. The targets included attack tunnels and buildings where Hamas fighters were present, a statement on X said.

In Rafah, Palestinians welcomed the UN vote and called for the United States to use its influence on Israel to secure a ceasefire.

Bilal Awad, 63, said Washington must "stand against an attack on Rafah, and support the return of the displaced to their cities".

Ihab al-Assar, 60, expressed hope that "Israel will comply" with the Security Council.

• Dozens of tanks surround Nasser Hospital
• Thousands displaced still inside the hospital
• Negotiations 'ongoing' for Gaza truce: Qatar
• Death toll in enclave now 32,414