Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeats a demand for Hamas to disarm and for its leaders to leave Gaza.
Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip has continued on the first day of the Muslim Eid holidays, killing dozens of people as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shows no sign of letting up pressure on Hamas amid a new round of ceasefire talks.
Several air raids in the early hours of Sunday struck tents and homes as Palestinians celebrated the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. At least 35 people were killed in the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, medical sources told Al Jazeera.
Sunday’s killings come as the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) recovered the bodies of 15 medical workers in Rafah who came under heavy Israeli fire last week. Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency Sanad obtained exclusive satellite images showing that at least five rescue vehicles were destroyed by the Israeli military in that deadly attack.
“[This] is a tragedy not only for us … but also for humanitarian work and humanity,” PRCS said in a statement, adding that the Israeli military targeting the health workers “can only be considered a war crime”.
Amid the violence, the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip continues to deteriorate as Israel has halted the delivery of aid into Gaza since early March.
“Palestinians are supposed to break their fast with a very nice meal [for Eid], but today they are unable to secure one meal – it’s devastating, the situation in Gaza,” said Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah.
Food in the Strip is scarce and highly expensive, with parents saying that feeding their families is a “mission impossible”, Khoudary said.
Meanwhile, prospects for a breakthrough in ceasefire talks seem remote.
On Sunday, Netanyahu repeated a demand for Hamas to disarm and for its leaders to leave Gaza, while promising to step up pressure on the group to release the 59 remaining captives it is holding, 35 of whom are believed dead.
These are part of a new set of demands put forward by Israel, with the backing of US President Donald Trump, set to revise the terms of a three-phase ceasefire agreement signed in January.
According to the original deal, following the release of a first batch of captives each week, the two parties agreed to enter a second phase of negotiations to discuss a permanent end to the war, the release of remaining captives and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
But Israel insists Hamas should release all captives without Israel committing to end the war. With Hamas refusing the new demands, Israel resumed bombing the Strip and relocated troops inside the enclave.
On Sunday, Netanyahu also said Israel would work to implement Trump’s “voluntary emigration plan” for Gaza and said his cabinet had agreed to keep pressuring Hamas, which says it has agreed to a new ceasefire proposal from mediators Egypt and Qatar.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said that Netanyahu’s comments were a recipe for “endless escalation” in the region.
Netanyahu rejected assertions that Israel was not negotiating, saying “We are conducting it under fire, and therefore it is also effective”.
“We see that there are suddenly cracks,” he said in a video statement issued on Sunday.
Khalil al-Hayya, the Hamas leader in Gaza, said the group had agreed to a proposal that security sources said included the release of five Israeli captives each week. But he said laying down its arms as Israel has demanded was a “red line” the group would not cross.