Israeli forces “surrounded Gaza City” […] “Now there is a southern Gaza and a northern Gaza,” said army spokesman Daniel Hagari.
Israel on Sunday rejected growing international pressure for a ceasefire and said its forces had surrounded Gaza City, as the US top diplomat struggled to contain a crisis that threatened to spark a new escalation in the neighbourhood. Lebanon.
Gaza suffered “unprecedented shelling” by Israel on Sunday, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported, while Palestinian telecommunications company Paltel said all communications and internet services had been cut again.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas joined international calls for an immediate ceasefire in a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was on an unannounced visit to the occupied West Bank.
But after Blinken reiterated U.S. concerns that a ceasefire could help Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled it out unless hostages held by Hamas were released: “There will be no ceasefire.” fire without the return of the hostages. This should be removed from the lexicon completely.”
A military spokesman said that Israeli forces had surrounded the main Gaza city: “They reached the coast in the southern part of Gaza City and surrounded Gaza City.”
Tensions with Lebanon rose when an Israeli attack on a car in the south of the country killed three children and their grandmother, Lebanese authorities said.
With information from Reuters and AFP.