Israel downplays prospect of ceasefire after Hamas reaction
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu downplays prospect of ceasefire in Gaza after Hamas presents so-called 'comprehensive vision' to mediator panel . Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office called the proposal "unrealistic."
Hamas wants a permanent end to the war and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
On Thursday evening, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip announced that 20 people had died while waiting for rescue.
The incident occurred at a roundabout in Kuwait on the southern outskirts of Gaza City. It is known as a landing place for some of the few aid supplies reaching northern Gaza, but the United Nations says children there are dying of malnutrition and starvation is looming.
In its latest update, the Ministry of Health announced that 155 people were injured in the incident. The newspaper said people injured in the attack were lying on the floors of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, and medical teams were struggling to deal with the number and nature of their injuries.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced in a statement that it had facilitated the passage of 31 aid trucks into the northern Gaza Strip.
"About an hour before the convoy arrived at the humanitarian corridor, armed Palestinians opened fire while civilians in the Gaza Strip were waiting for aid to arrive," the newspaper said.
The shooting continued as the crowd looted a truck and several people were run over, the Israel Defense Forces said, adding that it was continuing to investigate the incident.
Prime Minister Netanyahu rejected Hamas' latest ceasefire offer, but said an Israeli delegation would visit Qatar to discuss what Israel wants from a potential deal.
He also approved plans for a military operation in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, where more than a million people have sought refuge from him from other parts of the Gaza Strip.
The military was reportedly preparing to evacuate civilians. On Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces announced that it plans to relocate displaced Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to a so-called "humanitarian island" in central Gaza.
It is not clear what an "island" is or how it functions. However, the military offered assistance and temporary accommodation. No timetable has been given as to when the surgery will take place.
Although the United Nations and the United States have warned that a large-scale attack on Rafah could have devastating consequences, Israel has repeatedly signaled the need for such an operation and has no intention of targeting Rafah. Hamas cannot be completely eliminated from Gaza unless it is done.
Meanwhile, off the coast of the Gaza Strip, a ship was seen towing a barge loaded with 200 tons of food, on a pilotage trip to open a shipping route for aid supplies. Open Arms, a salvage vessel run by the Spanish charity of the same name, tows barges full of rice, flour, pulses, canned vegetables and canned protein. Gaza has no functioning port, so the US charity World Central Kitchen, which supports the mission, built a pier to offload cargo.
