Gaza (AFP)
International pressure mounted Monday for a ceasefire in Gaza as Britain, France and Germany made a joint plea for an end to war in Gaza with “no further delay”.
“The fighting must end now, and all hostages still detained must be released,” French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a joint statement.
“The people of Gaza need urgent and unfettered delivery and distribution of aid,” it said. “There can be no further delay.”
International mediators have invited the warring parties to resume talks towards a long-sought truce and hostage-release deal, after deadly Gaza strikes sparked fears of a wider conflict.
Israel has accepted the invitation from the United States, Qatar and Egypt to send negotiators for talks planned for Thursday.
“The reason we’re doing that is to finalise the details of the implementation of the framework agreement,” Israeli government spokesman David Mencer told a news conference.
The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was slow to publicly embrace the proposal after Biden laid it out on May 31, and some far-right Israeli ministers still oppose it.
Unveiling the plan, Biden had said the first phase of the proposed roadmap would include a “full and complete ceasefire” lasting six weeks, with Israeli forces withdrawing from “all populated areas of Gaza” and some hostages freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
The second phase would see the remaining living hostages released as the warring sides negotiate “a permanent end to hostilities”, followed by “a major reconstruction plan for Gaza” and the return of dead hostages’ remains.
Pressure for a ceasefire in Gaza grew after rescuers in Gaza said an Israeli air strike on Saturday killed 93 people at a school housing displaced Palestinians.
Officials told AFP on Monday that they had identified the bodies of 75 of those killed, while others were charred and torn apart.
Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered an aircraft carrier group to hasten its arrival in the Middle East, the Pentagon said Sunday.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said that in recent days more than 75,000 people had been displaced in southwest Gaza.
The entire Gaza Strip has a population of about 2.4 million people.
In the city of Khan Younis on Sunday, ravaged by months of bombardment and battles, journalists said hundreds of Palestinians had fled northern neighbourhoods after Israel issued fresh evacuation orders.
“We have to go somewhere, and we don’t know if it will be good or bad,” said Majd Ayyad, as families gathered their meagre belongings and left in pick-up trucks, on foot or using donkey-drawn carts.
On Monday, residents said Israel struck Khan Younis and Rafah from the air.
In the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, Suhail Abu Batihan said Israeli bombardment was “causing terror” among residents.
“We demand that the Palestinian negotiator, the world, Qatar and Egypt intervene to stop this war.”