The Palestinian Authority foreign ministry has criticized Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu for his stance on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
The ministry said that Netanyahu is demonstrating a disregard for the UN and international calls for an immediate ceasefire by advocating for Israel’s aggression on the Gaza Strip for an additional six months.
Netanyahu said on Tuesday Israel “will not stop fighting until absolute victory.”
In a statement, the ministry said his comments mean” the continuation of genocide and forced displacement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip”.
“Netanyahu derives his courage from the failure of the international institutions to bear their legal and moral responsibilities to end the occupation,” the statement added.
Also an Israeli government spokesperson seemed to have pushed back against media reports of a possible new mediated deal with Hamas under which fighting would be halted in exchange for a release of captives held in Gaza.
“Commenting on reported ceasefire agreements, Israel will not give up on the destruction of Hamas, the return of all the hostages, and there will be no security threat from Gaza towards Israel,” the spokesperson, Ilana Stein, said in a briefing.
Stein asserted, “There will be no ceasefire. In the past, there were pauses for humanitarian purposes. That agreement was breached by Hamas.”
Each side has blamed the other for the non-renewal of a seven-day truce in November in which Hamas had freed women, children and foreign captives in exchange for daily releases of Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
Meanwhile, the detention of 17-year-old Youssef al-Khatib, whom Israel freed in a swap deal with Hamas in November, has sparked outrage by Palestinian groups.
Hamas, which still holds more than 100 captives taken in Israel, warned of the “ramifications” of the teen’s rearrest.
It also called on the mediators of the November deal to interfere and pressure Israel to “live up to what was agreed upon.”
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society called the arrest a “blatant violation” of the terms of the swap agreement and a “dangerous” indicator that Israel is willing to redetain freed prisoners.
The Palestinian news agency reported that Israeli forces arrested al-Khatib near Jericho in the occupied West Bank on Saturday.
Qassam Brigades Target Six Israeli Vehicles Near Khan Younis
Also on Wednesday, the armed wing of Hamas said that its fighters have targeted four Israeli Merkava tanks with Yassin-105 shells, west of Khan Younis.
An Israeli armoured personnel carrier and a bulldozer were also targeted, southeast of Khan Younis
In al-Fukhari, east of Khan Younis, the Qassam Brigades said one of its artillery units bombed a gathering of Israeli soldiers with heavy-calibre mortar shells, causing direct casualties among their ranks.
The current situation in Khan Younis is dire, with medics and civil defence crews struggling to reach people targeted by the continuing Israeli bombardment.
Thomas White, the director of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, announced that a building complex sheltering tens of thousands of displaced people in Khan Younis caught fire after it was hit amid escalating fighting.
“Safe access to/from the centre has been denied for two days,” he said in a post on X, adding that people remain “trapped.”
“Israeli tanks have fired two shells at the centre, killing nine people and injuring dozens more,” the Director of the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency stated.
Thomas White said that about 800 displaced people were sheltering in the centre.
He added that teams from UNRWA and the WHO are trying to reach the building via a route agreed upon with the Israeli army, but they have been blocked.
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