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The Israeli aggression in Gaza has, at the time of writing, killed at least 687 Palestinians in Gaza as Israel continued its assault for the sixteenth day. Fighting between Hamas and Israel was suspended for a brief time on Wednesday in several critical areas in Gaza to let conoys of ambulances retrieve the wounded.
In the latest Israeli strikes, five people, including two children, were killed by tank fire in Southern Gaza, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said, taking Wednesday’s Palestinian death toll to at least 56. Several other strikes all over Gaza brought the total number of Palestinians killed due to the conflict between Hamas and Israel for the past sixteen days to 687.
A two-year-old girl was killed in an air strike on Wednesday, Qudra added.
Earlier in the day, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian in clashes in the village of Hussan in West Bank, Palestinian security forces said. They identified the man as 32-year-old Mahmud al-Hamamra, and said that he was shot while pelting Israelis with rocks. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the matter but said that it would look into it.
Hamas had rejected a ceasefire to end the ongoing violence unless the blockade of Gaza is lifted, Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal said in Doha.
“We reject today and will reject in the future” a ceasefire without Hamas’ demands included in the negotiations, Meshaal told reporters.
The lifting of the blockade is a key demand Hamas has made, along with the opening of the Rafah crossing. As international calls to end the fighting rise, Meshaal insisted that Hamas “welcomes all efforts to end the aggression” and “does not object” to mediation by anybody, including Egypt.
“We will not accept any initiative that does not lift the blockade on our people and that does not respect their sacrifices.Let us agree on achieving our demands and we will then agree on the zero-hour for a ceasefire”, Meshaal said.
