look news india
Tel Aviv: At least 22 people, including 18 children, were killed and several others injured in overnight attacks by Israel on the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Sunday. According to news reports, the airstrikes came at a time when the United States was approving billions of dollars of additional military aid to Israel.
It is noteworthy that Israel was carrying out air strikes on Rafah, this place has become a refuge for more than half of Gaza's 23 lakh population.
At this time, amid calls for restraint from various countries, including the United States, Israel also decided to expand its ground offensive against Hamas near Gaza's border with Egypt.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, “In the coming days, we will increase political and military pressure on Hamas because this is the only way to bring back our hostages and achieve victory.” “We will soon deliver a more painful blow to Hamas.”
Meanwhile, CNN quoted an Israeli official as saying that the Israeli war cabinet held a meeting late Sunday night (local time) to discuss efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza.
The war cabinet has four members – Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Galant and National Unity Party Chairman Benny Gantz.
In a video statement released by the Israeli government press office on the occasion of Passover on Sunday, Netanyahu said, “On this night, 133 of our beloved brothers and sisters are not sitting at the Seder table and are still imprisoned in the hell of Hamas.”
He accused Hamas of “outright” rejecting the hostage deal proposals. He announced that Israel would soon launch “additional and painful strikes” and would increase “military and political pressure” on Hamas to release the hostages, CNN reported.
For several weeks, international mediators have facilitated negotiations on a ceasefire and hostage agreement. However, the talks have not yielded any apparent breakthrough.
Earlier this month, Hamas indicated it had not been able to identify and track down the 40 Israeli hostages needed for the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, CNN reported, citing an Israeli official and a source familiar with the discussions. told.
According to the outline outlined by negotiators, Hamas should release 40 of the remaining hostages, including all the women as well as sick and elderly men, during the first six-week pause in the fighting. In exchange, Israel would release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, the report said.