Conflict rages in north Gaza as thousands displaced

GAZA/JERUSALEM — Airstrikes and gunfire rattled northern Gaza over the weekend, where Israeli military operations have uprooted tens of thousands of Palestinians and compounded what the UN called "unbearable" living conditions in the territory.

Explosions were heard from the Shujaiya area near Gaza City, and Israeli forces advanced further on Sunday.

The armed wings of both Hamas and the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad said they were engaged in fighting with Israeli forces there.

Israel's military on Saturday reported two soldiers killed and two severely wounded in combat in northern Gaza.

The Israeli forces also pushed deeper into western and central Rafah in the south.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a week ago the "intense phase" of the assault was winding down after almost nine months, but experts see a potentially prolonged next phase.

Mediators' efforts have failed to conclude a truce, with both sides blaming each other for the impasse.

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said on Saturday there had been no progress in cease-fire talks with Israel over the conflict.

The Palestinian group is still ready to "deal positively" with any cease-fire proposal, Hamdan told a news conference in Beirut.

Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh on Saturday discussed with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel the course of the negotiations to achieve a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

The call came after Israel's Hebrew public radio Kan reported that the US administration presented a revised version of a prisoner exchange deal that includes a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The Israeli offensive has killed at least 37,877 Gazans, in response to Hamas' surprise attack in Israel on Oct 7, which killed around 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages.

At a Tel Aviv mass rally against Netanyahu's government on Saturday, a former hostage said "we must do everything to bring them back home", referring to the hostages in Gaza.

The United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA estimated that "about 60,000 to 80,000 people were displaced" from the area last week. Louise Wateridge, spokeswoman for UNRWA, said: "It's really unbearable."

The conflict has also uprooted people on the Israel-Lebanon border, where the Hezbollah movement and Israeli forces have engaged in near-daily exchanges of fire.

Agencies - Xinhua