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full screen The remains of a home in Rafah, after an Israeli airstrike overnight Friday that reportedly killed two adults and five children. Photo: Ismael Abu Dayyah/AP/TT
A senior Hamasman accuses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of obstructing the ceasefire negotiations with his threats to enter Rafah regardless of the deal.
– Netanyahu was the brake block in all previous rounds of talks. . . and it is clear that he still is, claims Hossam Badran from the terrorist-branded movement.
Foreign mediators are said to be waiting for Hamas’s response to a proposal for a 40-day truce that involves the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners. Hamas leaders have said the group is considering the proposal “in a positive spirit.”
Hamas has always demanded a lasting ceasefire. At the same time, Netanyahu has maintained his promise to launch a ground offensive in the hard-fought border town of Rafah in southern Gaza, where a large percentage of the strip’s displaced civilians have taken refuge, and crush the last Hamas battalions there.
WHO chief: Could be a bloodbath
Last Tuesday, the Israeli prime minister said that the plans will be scrapped – regardless of how the talks with Hamas go.
Israel’s plans to enter Rafah have been condemned by much of the world, including close allies the United States and the United Nations, which are warning of disaster for the roughly 1.2 million civilians in the city.
On Friday, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the body is deeply concerned that a full-scale military operation in the city could lead to a bloodbath, further weakening an already broken healthcare system.
Several killed last night
During the night of Friday, several people are said to have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in the city, which were carried out regularly over a longer period.
Sanaa Zoorob told the AFP news agency that her sister and six of her nieces and nephews were killed. Two of the children were found “in pieces in their mother’s arms,” according to Zoorob, who is appealing for a permanent ceasefire.