JERUSALEM: Israel again called on Hamas to surrender on Sunday, as the military carried out strikes on Gaza’s largest urban center where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are seeking shelter.
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters in Jerusalem that the war could end immediately if Hamas released the remaining hostages being held in Gaza and laid down its weapons.
“We will be more than happy to reach this objective with political means,” he said.
In response, senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Reuters it would not lay down its arms but would release all of the hostages if Israel agreed to end the war and withdraw its forces from Gaza, a stance that has long been the Palestinian militant group’s position.
Israel last month launched an assault on Gaza City, the major urban center, and its forces are now just a few kilometers from the city center. Overnight, strikes killed 14 people across the city, local health officials said, including a strike on a school in southern Gaza City sheltering displaced Palestinians.
In response to Reuters questions about the strike on the school, the military said it had struck a Hamas militant and that civilians had been warned before the strike was carried out.
Israeli forces would “continue to operate against the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip in order to remove any threat to Israeli civilians,” a military spokesperson said.
HIGH-RISE BUILDING HIT
“What are you waiting for? We say to Hamas, we want a ceasefire, end this war before Gaza City is turned into ruins like Rafah,” said Gaza City resident Emad, referring to a southern Gaza city that Israel destroyed earlier in the war.
“We want an end to this war. How long is this going to go? How many lives are going to be wasted? Enough is enough,” he said by phone, asking for his surname not to be published.
The military pounded Gaza City over the weekend, destroying two high-rise buildings that were sheltering displaced Palestinians. The military said the buildings were being used by Hamas and that civilians were warned in advance.
Israel has not provided any evidence to show Hamas was using the buildings, an accusation the militant group denied.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military last month to take Gaza City, where, according to a global hunger monitor, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are facing famine. Israeli officials acknowledge that hunger exists in Gaza, but deny the territory is facing famine.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s military assault, launched after Hamas-led militants carried out the surprise October 7, 2023 attack that killed 1,200 people and saw another 251 abducted and taken into Gaza.
There are 48 hostages still held in Gaza. Israeli officials believe around 20 are still alive. Most of the hostages who have been released were freed after indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
CHANGE COURSE
Israel has long insisted that for the war to end Hamas must release the hostages, disarm and take no future role in Gaza’s governance. The militant group has said it would release all hostages if Israel agreed to end the war and withdraw its forces but has refused to discuss disarmament.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, speaking to reporters in Jerusalem alongside his Israeli counterpart, called on Israel to “change course” and stop its military campaign.
“We are extremely concerned about the humanitarian (situation),” he said, also calling for the hostages to be freed.
Rasmussen said there had been no breakthrough in talks with Saar for Israel to allow injured Gazans to receive medical care in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israel had security concerns, Saar said, and asked why Copenhagen would not provide medical care to them in Denmark.
Many Palestinians have fled Gaza City in recent weeks, but others have refused to leave having already been displaced several times since the war started.
The military on Saturday warned civilians to leave for the south where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are already sheltering in cramped tent encampments along the coast.
US President Donald Trump, who had promised a swift end to the war during his presidential campaign, on Friday said Washington was in “very deep” negotiations with Hamas. Hamas official Naim said he hoped Trump was serious about reaching a deal, without directly acknowledging any negotiations.
Hamas has offered to release some hostages for a temporary ceasefire, similar to terms that were discussed in July before negotiations mediated by the US and Arab states collapsed.
The war has grown increasingly unpopular among some segments of Israeli society. On Saturday night, tens of thousands of protesters joined families of hostages at rallies, calling for an end to the war and demanding the release of the captives.
“We want to call for change and for peace. To bring them home because the government won’t do it,” said Nimrod Cohen Bar-Eli, 29, at a Tel Aviv rally on Saturday night.
