Palestinians check the damage in the al-Zahra school used as a refuge by displaced Palestinians following an Israeli strike, in the Shujaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City on August 8, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
| Photo Credit: AFP

The Israeli military has ordered another mass evacuation in large areas around Khan Younis in southern Gaza, saying its forces will soon operate there in response to Palestinian rocket fire. Gaza’s second-largest city, Khan Younis suffered widespread destruction during air and ground operations earlier this year.

Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to heavily destroyed areas of Gaza where they had fought earlier battles against Hamas and other militants since the start of the 10-month-old war.

Gaza faces a severe humanitarian crisis with Israeli restrictions on aid and ongoing fighting limiting access to crucial medical, food and other supplies. The Health Ministry in Gaza says the death toll in the territory is nearing 40,000.

Regional tensions have soared since Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed July 31 in Iran by a presumed Israeli strike. Retaliation has been expected.

Cease-fire talks

World leaders have been pushing for a cease-fire in Gaza. On Thursday (August 8,2024), the foreign powers involved in brokering a possible deal — the U.S., Egypt and Qatar — issued a joint statement calling on Israel and Hamas to resume stalled cease-fire talks on Aug. 15.

Israel has confirmed it will send negotiators to resume indirect cease-fire talks with Hamas next week in response to a proposal by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Thursday (August 8,2024) that the government would heed the call by foreign mediators to revive negotiations aimed at halting the fighting in Gaza after 10 months of devastating war and bringing home Israeli hostages still captive in the enclave.

The statement said that on August 15, at a place to be determined, the parties would hash out the implementation of a “framework agreement” that has already been finalized. The mediators said the talks would take place either in Qatar’s capital of Doha or Egypt’s capital of Cairo.

There was no immediate response to the offer by Hamas. Last week’s killing of its top political leader in Tehran raised tensions across the region, an escalation widely seen as a blow to cease-fire talks.

The foreign powers involved in brokering a possible cease-fire aimed at halting the fighting in Gaza and releasing Israeli hostages have jointly appealed to Israel and Hamas to return to the negotiating table next week.

The statement issued Thursday (August 8,2024) by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, the three mediators in the monthslong Israel-Hamas war, called on the parties to resume stalled cease-fire talks on Aug. 15 in either Qatar’s capital of Doha or Egypt’s capital of Cairo.

“There is no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay,” it said, adding that the negotiators have already finalized a “framework” for the deal. All that’s left to hammer out, it said, are the details of implementation.