Israel Heavy fighting again in northern Gaza

A resumption of fierce fighting between Israel's army and the Islamist Hamas in the north of the Gaza Strip overshadows the revived negotiations on the release of hostages and a ceasefire.

Israel is once again taking action against Hamas fighters on the ground and from the air in the devastated city of Gaza. In recent weeks, Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to areas into which they had previously entered and from which they had withdrawn again.

This shows how the fight against Hamas could become a "protracted war of attrition", writes the Wall Street Journal. Israel's renewed action in the city of Gaza could lead to the failure of the indirect negotiations resumed in Cairo on a hostage agreement, Hamas declared. Its foreign leader Ismail Haniya had warned the Qatari and Egyptian mediators accordingly, it was said. The USA, which is also acting as a mediator in the war, nevertheless sees opportunities for an agreement.

There are still points on which Israel and Hamas are far apart, said the communications director of the National Security Council in the White House, John Kirby. "But we wouldn't have sent a team there if we didn't think we had a chance here," he said, referring to the talks in Cairo. On Wednesday, CIA Director Bill Burns will travel on to Doha to meet again with his negotiating partners from Qatar, Egypt and Israel, the US news portal "Axios" reported.

Hamas: Netanyahu obstructs negotiation process

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously demanded the right for Israel to continue fighting Hamas as a non-negotiable condition for an agreement. "Any agreement will allow Israel to resume fighting until all war aims have been achieved," according to a list of conditions published by the Israeli Prime Minister's office. Netanyahu is "placing additional obstacles in the way of negotiations", according to a Hamas statement.

There are public statements on both sides "that do not necessarily fully reflect the talks we are having with them or their interlocutors in private," said Kirby, communications director of the National Security Council in the White House. A step-by-step plan is on the table. The mediators are currently working on formulations to bridge the gap on points that are still in dispute. According to the media, Netanyahu's list of conditions was met with criticism in mediation circles.

Air strikes continue

Meanwhile, Israel's air force also reportedly attacked several terrorists entrenched in a school building in the central Gaza Strip. According to Israel's military, the group of Hamas and Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fighters in the Nuseirat area was fired upon with precision munitions on Monday evening in order to avoid civilian casualties. No further details were given. The information could not be independently verified.

The Israeli army once again pointed out that the two terrorist organizations "systematically violate international law" by "misusing civilian facilities and the population as human shields for terrorist attacks against the State of Israel", it said. In Nuseirat, the army recently identified Hamas fighters in the area of a former school of the UN refugee relief organization UNRWA and attacked them from the air. According to Hamas, 16 people were killed.

According to the army, this building had also served the terrorists as a hiding place and base of operations for attacks on the Israeli military. And steps had also been taken beforehand to minimize the risk to civilians during the attack. None of the information - neither from the Israeli army nor from Hamas - could be independently verified. The Gaza war was triggered by the massacre of more than 1,200 people killed by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups in Israel on October 7, 2023.

Meanwhile, Israel's army reached the headquarters of the UN refugee agency UNRWA in the city of Gaza. The armed forces had launched anti-terror operations in the area, which is not in operation due to the war, it was reported. Civilians had previously been ordered to leave the area. Army radio reported fighting with Hamas gunmen. According to Palestinian hospital reports, at least 15 people were killed. The number of victims could still rise because rescue workers are unable to reach many residential areas due to the fighting. The information could not be independently verified.

Fierce fighting again in Gaza City

Israeli troops had already entered the Gaza City area during the first month of the war. According to an analysis of satellite data recently carried out by experts from the City University of New York and Oregon State University, around 75 percent of the buildings in the area have been damaged or destroyed, reported the Wall Street Journal. The city has been one of the hardest hit by the massive devastation in the war. Hamas is now trying to regroup there and elsewhere.

Israel's Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi had already complained weeks ago that, due to a lack of political strategy, it was necessary to fight again and again in places that the army had previously taken and, according to media reports, warned of a "Sisyphean task". Critics accuse Netanyahu of allowing the sealed-off coastal area to sink into chaos due to the lack of a precise plan to stabilize and administer Gaza. Israeli troops threatened to become embroiled in an endless guerrilla war by Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu recently held out the prospect that the last major Hamas combat units in the south of the Gaza Strip would soon be crushed. This could at least put an end to the large-scale ground offensive in the coastal strip. However, this would not necessarily mean an end to the military operation. Netanyahu and senior military officials have already announced several times that Israeli troops would remain in strategic locations in the Gaza Strip even after the phase of intense fighting.

SDA