Israel-Palestine fighting in Gaza intensifies as Egypt truce falters

Palestinian fighters have fired many rockets while Israel continued to bomb besieged Gaza, with a series of air strikes killing 23 Palestinians, including at least 10 civilians and head of Islamic Jihad movement's rocket-launching force.

A state-run Egyptian TV station announced that Egypt, a frequent mediator between the sides, had brokered a ceasefire. But the truce efforts faltered as fighting intensified early on Thursday, with neither side showing any sign of backing down.

Israel bombed a building in the southern Gaza area of Khan Younis, killing the head of Islamic Jihad's rocket-launching unit, identified as Ali Ghali, and two other fighters, the Israeli military and Islamic Jihad said.

In a prime-time TV address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israel had dealt a harsh blow to the Palestinian fighters. But he cautioned, "This round is not over.”

Throughout the Wednesday, rocket fire set off air-raid sirens throughout southern and central Israel, some 80 kilometres away.

Residents had been bracing for an attack since Israel launched its first air strikes early on Tuesday.

It was the heaviest fighting between the sides in months, pushing the region closer toward a full-blown war.

Late on Wednesday, Egypt's Extra News television channel, which has close ties to Egyptian security agencies, said it had brokered a ceasefire.

Egyptian intelligence frequently mediates between Israel and Palestine.

Israeli officials confirmed that Egypt was trying to facilitate a ceasefire.

Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes diplomacy, they said Israel would evaluate the situation based on actions on the ground, not declarations.

Gaza's Islamic Jihad resistance group said it would continue firing rockets.

Mohamad al Hindi, an official with the group, said a sticking point in the talks was that the Palestinians wanted an Israeli commitment to stop targeted killing operations, such as the ones that killed its three top commanders early on Tuesday.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned civilian deaths in Gaza as "unacceptable" and appealed for them to "stop immediately" and for all parties to exercise maximum restraint, Deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Wednesday.

The 15-member UN Security Council met behind closed doors on Wednesday over the latest violence.

"Israel must abide by its obligations under international humanitarian law, including the proportional use of force and taking all feasible precautions to spare civilians and civilian objects in the conduct of military operations," Haq said.

Guterres also condemns the indiscriminate launching of rockets from Gaza into Israel, which violates international humanitarian law and puts at risk Palestinian and Israeli civilians, Haq said.

Jewish ultranationalist parade

In a move that could further raise tensions, Israeli police said they would permit a Jewish ultranationalist parade to take place next week.

The parade, meant to celebrate Israel's capture and occupation of East Jerusalem and its Jewish holy sites, marches through the heart of the Old City's Muslim Quarter and often leads to friction with local Palestinians.

Israeli aircraft hit Gaza for the second straight day, killing at least five Palestinians.

A 10-year-old Palestinian girl named Layan Mdoukh was killed in a blast at her home in Gaza City.

In a statement, an umbrella organisation of Palestinian factions in Gaza, including Hamas, said the campaign against Israel — which it dubbed "Avenging the Free" — involved firing rockets in retaliation for Israel's killing of the three Islamic Jihad commanders as well as several civilians.

"The resistance is ready for all options," the factions said. "If [Israel] persists in its aggression and arrogance, dark days await it."

Still, it remained unclear whether Hamas had joined the fray.

Israel has come under international criticism for the high civilian toll on Tuesday, which included four women and four children and a dentist who lived in one of the targeted buildings along with his wife and son.

In past conflicts, rights groups have accused Israel of committing war crimes due to high civilian deaths.

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the military said that Palestinian gunmen opened fire at troops in the Palestinian town of Qabatiya in the northern West Bank during an army raid.

Troops returned fire, killing the two men, and confiscated their firearms, it said.

Israel has been conducting near-daily military raids in the occupied West Bank for over a year to detain suspected Palestinian fighters.

Around 130 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem this year.

At least 20 people have been killed in attacks targeting Israelis.

Millions under occupation

Densely populated Gaza, which is home to 2.3 million Palestinians, has been under Israeli blockade from land, air and sea, since 2005.

Israel occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire East Jerusalem city in 1980.

Palestine calls East Jerusalem, along with Gaza, as part of the country with East Jerusalem as the capital, currently under Israeli occupation.

Under international law, the West Bank and East Jerusalem are "occupied territories" and all Jewish settlement-building activities on the land are illegal.

Palestinians accuse Israel of waging an aggressive campaign to "Judaise" the historic city by effacing its Palestinian Arab and Islamic identity and driving out its Palestinian inhabitants.

Almost 700,000 illegal Israeli settlers live in over 130 settlements dotting the occupied West Bank alongside nearly three million Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation.

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Source: TRT World