CAIRO (Reuters) – Israeli forces continued operations near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Monday amid international efforts to reach a deal to halt fighting in Gaza and prevent a slide into a wider regional conflict with Iran and its proxies.
Palestinian medics said Israeli airstrikes on several areas in Khan Younis on Monday killed at least 16 people and wounded many more. Meanwhile, more families and displaced people streamed out of areas threatened by new evacuation orders ordering people to leave the area.
As fighting continues in several areas of the Gaza Strip, Hamas has expressed skepticism about the latest round of talks sponsored by Egypt and Qatar scheduled for Thursday, saying it has seen no sign of movement from the Israeli side.
The movement said in a statement on Sunday that mediators should force Israel to accept a ceasefire proposal based on ideas from US President Joe Biden, which Hamas has accepted, “instead of seeking further rounds of negotiations or new proposals that would provide cover for the occupation's aggression.”
Two sources close to Hamas said the movement is convinced that the new call for talks was coordinated in advance with Israel to deter any reactions from Iran and Hezbollah to the assassination of the movement's political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah's leader in Lebanon.
“We can say that this is a soft rejection,” said a Palestinian official close to the mediation efforts. “If Hamas gets a workable plan and a positive response from Israel to the proposal it accepted, things may change, but so far Hamas believes that Netanyahu is not serious about reaching an agreement.”
Hamas's reaction to the talks came at a time of heightened preparations for a wider confrontation, with Washington ordering a guided-missile submarine to the Middle East and the Abraham Lincoln strike group accelerating its deployment to the region.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that Iran is preparing to launch a large-scale military attack on Israel, Axios News correspondent Barak Ravid reported on Twitter.
Israel has been preparing for a major offensive since last month when a rocket attack killed 12 young men in the occupied West Bank, and Israel responded by killing a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut.
A day after that operation, Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, was assassinated in Tehran, prompting Iran to vow revenge against Israel.
The potential escalation has highlighted the extent of the turmoil in the Middle East caused by the war in Gaza, now in its 11th month.
The Hamas-led assault on Israeli communities surrounding the Gaza Strip has killed some 1,200 people, with more than 250 captured in Gaza, according to Israeli statistics, in one of the most devastating strikes against Israel in its history.
Israeli forces responded by destroying Gaza, displacing most of its population and killing some 40,000 people, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, in a war that sent shockwaves around the world.
Dozens were killed Saturday in Israeli air strikes on a school building in Gaza City, which the military said targeted fighters from the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Gaza health officials say most of the dead are civilians, but Israel says at least a third are combatants. Israel says it has lost 329 soldiers in Gaza.