The Israeli army bombarded Khan Yunis, the new epicentre of the war in Gaza, on Monday as the families of hostages held by Hamas urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a deal to secure their release. Witnesses reported deadly strikes overnight in Khan Yunis, the largest city in southern Gaza, and fierce fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants. Netanyahu has vowed "complete victory" over Hamas after attacks by the Islamist movement's fighters on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians. Hamas militants also seized about 250 hostages and Israel says around 132 remain in besieged Gaza. The war has spurred fears of a wider escalation, and sirens were heard again overnight in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon, according to the Israeli military. There have been almost daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, and several areas of southern Lebanon were hit overnight.

One such Israeli strike killed a Lebanese Hezbollah fighter, according to a source in the Hamas-aligned group. Violence has also surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Huthi rebels in Yemen have also attacked what they deem to be Israeli-linked shipping in the vital Red Sea shipping lanes, prompting retaliatory US and UK strikes, while attacks in Syria and Iraq have mostly been claimed by Iran-linked militants opposing US support for Israel. Hamas said in its first public report on the events that triggered the war there had been "some faults" on its part but also called for an end to "Israeli aggression" in Gaza. The October 7 attacks were a "necessary step" against Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and a way to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners, it said in its 16-page report. Israel vowed to "annihilate" Hamas after the attacks and launched a relentless offensive that has killed at least 25,105 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.

The Israeli campaign has killed "around 20 percent to 30 percent" of Hamas fighters and is still far from its goal of destroying the Islamist movement, according to estimates by US intelligence agencies, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. It said the United States, Qatar and Egypt, the countries that mediated a truce in November, were trying to convince Israel and Hamas to approve a plan that would free all the hostages in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu has maintained that Israel must retain security control after the war and has rejected the possibility of "Palestinian sovereignty". Major ally the United States and others have recommended that a so-called two-state solution was the only way to guarantee Israel's long-term security.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)