Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 48 as fears mount over humanitarian crisis and West Bank violence
Gaza overnight, half of them women and children, health officials said Thursday. European foreign ministers and U.N. agencies called for a cease-fire, with alarm rising over the worsening humanitarian crisis and potential starvation in the territory.
Tensions were also rising in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where three Palestinian gunmen on Thursday opened fire on morning traffic at a highway checkpoint, killing one person and wounding five others, Israeli police said.
Israel's defense minister, Yoav Gallant, announced Thursday that the government «will expand the authority given to our hostage negotiators.» His comments, delivered in a meeting with U.S. Mideast envoy Brett McGurk, signaled a small sign of progress in cease-fire talks.
Benny Gantz, who sits on Israel's War Cabinet with Gallant and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said late Wednesday that new attempts are underway to reach a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas that could pause the war in Gaza and bring the release of around 130 Israeli hostages held by the militants since their Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. It was the first Israeli indication of new efforts since negotiations stalled a week ago.
But Gantz, a former military chief and defense minister, repeated his pledge that unless Hamas agrees to release the remaining hostages, Israel will launch a ground offensive into Gaza's southernmost town, Rafah, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins around March 10.
