Gaza war rages on 100th day

GAZA:

The Israeli invasion of the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza reached the grim milestone of 100 days on Monday, with more civilian deaths, and relatives of dozens of captives still awaiting their freedom.

The conflict has created a humanitarian catastrophe for the 2.4 million people in Gaza, the United Nations and aid groups warned and reduced much of the coastal strip to rubble. Israel's relentless military campaign has killed at least 24,100 people in the Palestinian territory, mostly women and children.

The UN says roughly 85 percent of the territory's population has been displaced -- crowded into shelters and struggling to get food, water, fuel and medical care.

"It's been 100 days and our situation is very bad," said Mohammad Kahil, displaced to Rafah, in southern Gaza near Egypt, from the territory's north.

"There's no food, no water, no heating. We are dying from the cold."

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), said diseases were spreading with "the clock ticking fast towards famine".

Violence involving groups in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria has surged since the war in Gaza began in early October.

While a wider conflagration has so far been averted, fears increased following US and British strikes on scores of Yemeni Houthi targets Friday.

Undeterred, the Houthis have vowed more attacks in solidarity with Gaza against what they deem Israeli-linked Red Sea shipping.

The Palestinian government media office said Sunday that "more than 100 people were martyred in the attacks last night until 6:00 am in all areas of the Gaza Strip".

Among those killed was Yazan al-Zwaidi, a video journalist for Cairo-based Al Ghad television, "murdered by Israeli fire", the station said on X, formerly Twitter.

At central Gaza's Al-Aqsa hospital, the bodies arrived piled on a donkey cart after Israeli strikes that Hisham Abu Suweh said killed one of his children.

As civilians, Suweh said his family had thought they would be safe.

"We're shocked by what happened," he said outside the emergency ward where his wife was being treated. "We were sitting peacefully when the missile hit us."

Fewer than half of Gaza's hospitals are even partly functioning, the World Health Organization says.

On the Israel-Lebanon border, which has seen regular exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hamas ally Hezbollah, the Israeli army claimed it killed three gunmen who had crossed the frontier and "fired at the forces".

The army said warplanes also hit Hezbollah positions after a missile strike on a house in an Israeli border community.

"What has the enemy achieved in 100 days, other than killing?" asked Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a televised speech.

Israel's military has claimed its forces have dismantled the Hamas command structure in Gaza's north. However, the Palestinian resistance group has routinely launched rockets at Israel from the area, contradicting Israeli claims.

On Sunday the military also claimed it had struck rocket launching pits in Gaza's north and hit targets across the strip, including the main southern city of Khan Yunis.

Hamas's military wing reported clashes with Israeli forces in the city.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a government budget meeting on Sunday that additional security expenditures were needed.

"We must conduct this war, and it will yet take many months," he said.

Netanyahu is under intense domestic pressure to account for political and security failings surrounding the initial attack, and to bring the captives home. He is also on trial for corruption charges, which he denies.

On a cold and rainy Sunday in Tel Aviv, Israelis danced, sang and prayed at a series of events to mark the 100 days of captivity for the Gaza captives.

"I don't think we imagined a situation where we would be here on the 100th day," said Gili Dvash Yeshurun, who attended the commemoration.

Israel's trade union federation, the Histadrut, said hundreds of thousands of workers joined a 100-minute strike.

US President Joe Biden also acknowledged "a devastating and tragic milestone" for the hostages.

Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas's armed wing, said many of the hostages are likely to have been killed recently.

"The enemy's leadership and army bear full responsibility," he said in a televised statement.
Hamas on Sunday also released video footage it claimed showed three captives alive in its custody in Gaza.

In the video, one woman and two men appear talking in Hebrew calling on the Israeli authorities to act for their return home. It was unclear when the footage was filmed.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant vowed earlier Sunday: "We will not let the world forget. We will not leave them behind."

In the occupied West Bank, where violence has surged since early October, Israeli forces killed five Palestinians including two shot dead when their car broke through a checkpoint, sources on both sides said.

Troops also detained two sisters of Saleh al-Aruri, Hamas's deputy leader killed in a strike in Beirut this month, Palestinian sources and the Israeli army said.

This photograph taken on January 15, 2024 from Rafah shows smoke billowing over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip during Israeli bombardment. PHOTO: AFP

China calls for Gaza peace conference

China called for a large-scale and authoritative peace conference on the war in Gaza, while Hamas aired video of three Israeli hostages and said their fate would be disclosed on Monday.

Speaking in Egypt at the weekend, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for "the formulation of a specific timetable and road map for the implementation of the 'two-state solution' and support for the prompt resumption of Israel-Palestinian peace talks".

Wang, currently travelling through Egypt, Tunisia, Togo and the Ivory Coast, said last week that President Xi Jinping had "in-depth communication" with the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Iran. China's top diplomat has also held talks with the Secretary-General of the Arab League and expressed concerns over the Red Sea, Xinhua reported.