Israeli forces bombarded a Gaza refugee camp Friday after a deadly strike on a UN school there, as the war sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel entered its ninth month. Efforts to mediate the first ceasefire in the bloody conflict since a week-long pause in November appear to have stalled, only a week after US President Joe Biden offered a new roadmap. Hamas has yet to respond to Biden’s proposal, while Israel has expressed openness to discussions but remains committed to destroying the Palestinian Islamist group.
In a new truce bid, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel and key regional partners Egypt, Jordan and Qatar from Monday on his eighth Middle East trip since the war began, the State Department said. Separately, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Washington to address the US Congress on July 24.
Nuseirat camp hit again
As Gaza faced Israeli attacks from land, sea, and air on Friday, witnesses said the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza was hit again, a day after the Israeli strike on the UN-run school. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in nearby Deir al-Balah said at least 37 people were killed in Thursday’s air strike, which the Israeli military said targeted “terrorists” hiding in three classrooms.
On Friday the military as well as the Hamas-run government media office reported another Israeli strike on a school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, in Al-Shati refugee camp.
Nine Months of Israel-Palestine War
June 7 marked nine months since the war between Israel and Palestine started. Nearly 37,000 Palestinians have lost their lives with more than 83,500 people injured. Almost all of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are facing displacement, food shortages, and inadequate healthcare facilities due to the ongoing conflict. Meanwhile, in the West Bank, over 500 people have lost their lives while more than 5,000 have been injured, as reported by Al Jazeera.