Gaza: More than 100 people lost their lives as Israeli air strikes targeted homes in southern Gaza.
According to media reports, Israeli bombardment destroyed one house and left a gaping hole in the earth east of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, where about 1.4 million Gazans have converged in a futile search to escape the fighting.
“An Israeli air strike on Friday destroyed the home of well-known Palestinian comedian Mahmoud Zuaiter in Gaza, killing at least 23 people and injuring dozens more,” said the Gaza health ministry. Most of the victims were women and children, it added.
More than four months of fighting and bombardment have flattened much of Gaza and pushed its population of around 2.4 million to the brink of famine as disease spreads.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has unveiled a plan for post-conflict Gaza that drew criticism from key ally the United States and was rejected by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.
The new plan came after airstrikes targeted homes in southern Gaza, and as an Israeli delegation arrived in Paris hoping to “unblock” truce discussions.
Netanyahu’s plan envisages civil affairs in a post-crisis Gaza being run by Palestinian officials without links to Hamas. It also lays out that, even after the conflict, the Israeli army would have “indefinite freedom” to operate throughout Gaza to prevent any resurgence of terror activity, according to the proposals.
The plan was swiftly rejected by the Palestinian Authority and drew criticism from the United States. US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Washington had been “consistently clear with our Israeli counterparts” about what was needed in post-conflict Gaza.
A senior Hamas official has also lambasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan for post-conflict Gaza during a press conference in the Lebanese capital.