The US continues to fully back Israelâs war on Gaza as it pushes for a temporary ceasefire through international talks.
Israelâs military has killed at least 40 Palestinians in attacks on central Gaza ahead of a new round of international talks to broker a truce and as Tel Aviv has outlined a plan for the enclave after the war ends.
The âheinous massacreâ committed by Israeli forces in Deir el-Balah in the central part of the territory injured more than 100 people, Gazaâs government media office said in a statement late on Thursday, adding that the overwhelming majority of casualties were women and children.
âWe hold the American administration and the international community, additionally to Israel, fully responsible for these ongoing crimes, and we call on the free world to immediately put an end to this war of extermination that the Israeli army is waging against civilians,â it said.
Reporting from Rafah in southern Gaza, Al Jazeeraâs Tareq Abu Azzoum said residential homes were âattacked without any prior warningâ in the strikes.
Hamas said in a statement on Friday that the attacks on homes âconfirm to the international community that it [Israel] is a rogue entity that does not care about human laws and valuesâ.
More than 29,000 Palestinians, mostly children and women, have been killed by the Israeli army since the start of the war on October 7, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
Yet United States National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said late on Thursday that negotiations for a ceasefire and the exchange of captives held in the enclave for Palestinian prisoners had been âconstructiveâ.
A Hamas delegation left Cairo, Egypt, on Friday after three days of talks, for which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not send representatives.
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Egypt and Qatar-mediated negotiations are expected to continue later on Friday in Paris, with Israel also sending a delegation. A renewed ceasefire proposal could be crafted in the French capital, but the details are still unclear.
âFreedom to operateâ in future Gaza
The deadly Israeli ground and air attacks on Gaza are continuing as Tel Aviv is carrying on with its plans for the future of the besieged enclave that run counter to what the US and other world and regional powers have said they want to see in the Palestinian territory.
Israelâs plan for after the war envisions the installation of âlocal officialsâ with no links to countries or entities who support âterrorismâ to administer Gaza, according to a report by the Times of Israel on a plan presented by Netanyahu.
The report said that the Israeli military âwill maintain an indefinite freedom to operate throughout the entireâ Gaza Strip â similar to its military occupation of the remaining Palestinian territories across the West Bank.
Netanyahuâs plan also describes the âcomplete demilitarisationâ of Gaza âbeyond what is required for the needs of maintaining public orderâ and makes no mention of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which Washington wants to be in control of the territory after the war is over.
The Israeli prime minister, who presented the document to his security cabinet, has previously said that the PA will not be part of a future post-war Gaza.
Israel has also moved ahead with its plan to establish a âbuffer zoneâ on the Palestinian side of its border with the strip, which will effectively shrink the territoryâs frontiers, despite objections by the United Nations.
To realise this plan, the Israeli military has been razing homes and buildings along the envisioned zone using air strikes, large explosives planted by its ground forces and bulldozers.
Analyst Ben Friedman said that while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expresses concern for Palestinian lives in Gaza, Washington is not willing to âreally stand up to Israelâ.
âIn my opinion, that is threatening them with withdrawal of support, including financial support, if they donât do what we asked them to do,â Friedman, policy director at the Defense Priorities think tank, told Al Jazeera.
âYou have to threaten Israel with some consequences if they donât go along with what youâre asking. Otherwise, itâs just sort of empty rhetoric thatâs designed to look critical without actually making any difference,â he added.
This week the US again vetoed a third resolution at the UN Security Council calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, which drew widespread international condemnation.