According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, Israel has consented to pick up the ceasefire talks with Gaza next week at the request of international mediators. This comes after intense diplomatic efforts to prevent a regional conflict.
The revelation came in response to an Iranian accusation that Israel seeks to expand warfare throughout the Middle East, as well as recurrent charges from Hamas representatives, some Israeli analysts, and critics that Netanyahu has prolonged the Gaza conflict for political purposes.
After months of intense combat with Hamas, soldiers from Israel’s military withdrew from the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis in April. At the time, the IDF maintained that forces were still present in the area.
After ten months of fighting throughout the Gaza Strip, Israel has sworn to destroy the Palestinian group in punishment for the strike on October 7. However, the IDF has found itself having to return to some locations to combat the militants once more.
“Enough!” shouted Khan Yunis resident Ahmed al-Najjar.
“Have mercy on us, for God’s sake, the young children and women are dying in the streets. Enough!”
After the military issued an evacuation order for parts of Khan Yunis, AFPTV images showed a crowd of people flowing through dusty, damaged streets on foot or on donkey and motorcycle carts piled with belongings as horns honked.
“We’ve been displaced 15 times,” said Mohammed Abdeen.
Iran-aligned forces have already become involved in the Gaza war, and fears of a wider Middle East war have increased as a result of pledges of retribution for the deaths of two prominent terrorists, including the leadership chief of Hamas.
The combat in Gaza has only ever stopped for a week, in November, during which Israeli captives held by terrorists were released in return for Palestinian inmates being held in Israel.
For months, mediators from the United States, Qatar, and Egypt have attempted to reach a new agreement.
