Israel keeps up strikes in Gaza as fears of wider war grow

CAIRO: Israeli forces pressed on with operations near the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis on Monday amid an international push for a deal to halt fighting in Gaza and prevent a slide into a wider regional conflict with Iran and its proxies.

Palestinian medics said Israeli military strikes on Khan Yunis on Monday killed at least 18 people and wounded several. Meanwhile more families and displaced persons streamed out of areas threatened by new evacuation orders telling people to clear the area.

Later an Israeli airstrike killed five people in the Zeitoun suburb of Gaza City, and two others were killed in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, medics said. As fighting continued, Hamas reacted sceptically to the latest round of Egyptian and Qatari-brokered talks due on Thursday, saying it had seen no sign of movement from the Israeli side.

The group said on Sunday that mediators must force Israel to accept a ceasefire proposal based on ideas from US President Joe Biden, which Hamas had accepted, “instead of pursuing further rounds of negotiations or new proposals that would provide cover for the occupation’s aggression”.

Two sources close to Hamas told Reuters the group was convinced the new call for talks was coordinated beforehand with Israel to deter responses from Iran and Hezbollah to the assassination of the group’s chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran and a top Hezbollah leader in Lebanon.

“It is a mild rejection you can say. Should Hamas receive a workable plan, an Israeli positive response to the proposal it had accepted, things may change, but so far Hamas believes Netanyahu isn’t serious about reaching a deal,” said one Palestinian official close to the mediation effort.

Hamas’ reaction to the talks came as preparations for a larger scale confrontation grew, with Washington ordering a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and the Abraham Lincoln strike group accelerating its deployment to the region.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin that Iran was making preparations for a large-scale military attack on Israel, Barack Ravid, a normally well-sourced reporter for Axios News, reported on Twitter.