TEL AVIV: Fighting raged on Sunday in the Gaza Strip in the third month of war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.
Hamas fighters from the Gaza Strip attacked Israel on Oct 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 240 hostages -- 137 of whom remain in Gaza, Israeli officials say.
In response, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and launched a military offensive in Gaza that has killed at least 17,700 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
During a seven-day truce that expired on Dec 1, Gaza fighters released 105 hostages, including dozens of Israelis freed in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
On day 65 of the war, here are five key developments from the past 24 hours:
Hamas said Sunday that Israel had launched a series of "very violent raids" targeting the southern city of Khan Yunis and the road from there to Rafah, near the border with Egypt.
A source close to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another Gaza group, told AFP that both were engaged in "fierce clashes" with Israeli forces near Khan Yunis.An AFP journalist reported strikes in the area.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday Israel would continue its "just war" to destroy Hamas and thanked the United States for vetoing a UN Security Council resolution that would have called for a ceasefire.
"I very much appreciate the correct stance the US took at the United Nations Security Council... Israel will continue our just war to eliminate Hamas and achieve the rest of the war's goals," Netanyahu said in a video statement.
Israel's army chief Herzi Halevi said his forces needed to "press harder" in Gaza.
Hundreds of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday to call for the release of the 137 people officials say are still being held captive in Gaza, in a rally featuring video testimonies by freed hostages.
Margalit Moses, 77, said she was hauled off to a tunnel under Gaza, where one of her Hamas guards took away a machine she used to help her breathe at night.
"Forty-nine days I did not sleep," she said.
Another former hostage, 18-year-old Itay Regev, said that in captivity "every day feels like an eternity".
The United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, said on Saturday that nearly one million children had been displaced inside Gaza by the war.
As fighting intensifies, "they are now being pushed further and further south into tiny, overcrowded areas without water, food or protection", said Adele Khodr of UNICEF, urging more aid into the territory.
A UN peacekeeping position in southern Lebanon was hit on Saturday without causing casualties, the UN force said, adding it was seeking to verify the source of the fire.
Lebanon's National News Agency reported that an "Israeli Merkava tank" targeted the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) position near the border, a claim rejected by an army spokeswoman.
Since the Israel-Hamas war began, the frontier between Lebanon and Israel has seen intensifying exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah, raising fears of a broader conflagration. — AFP
