The much-awaited UN Security Council resolution to halt Gaza bloodshed was welcomed by the Asia-Pacific general community but resisted by Israel, which continued its military attack on Gaza targets on Tuesday.

A day after the adoption of Resolution 2728 that demands an immediate cease-fire this Ramadan, Israeli military bombed a house in Rafah, killing at least 18 people, including nine children, Al Jazeera reported.

Shortly after the resolution was passed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled the planned visit of an Israeli delegation to Washington. The US had requested the meeting after expressing concerns over a proposed Israeli attack on Rafah, a city in crowded southern Gaza.

"The United States has abandoned its policy in the UN today," a statement from Netanyahu's office read. "Today's resolution gives Hamas hope that international pressure will force Israel to accept a cease-fire without the release of our hostages, thus harming both the war effort and the effort to release the hostages," it said.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the resolution was "a step in the right direction" and called on the UNSC member states to fulfill their legal responsibilities to immediately implement it. They also stressed the importance of achieving a permanent cease-fire that extended beyond Ramadan, which is set to end in the Gaza Strip on April 9.

Palestinian militant group Hamas welcomed the resolution and said it stood ready to engage in an immediate swap of prisoners with Israel.

Sabri Saidam, a member of the central committee of Fatah — the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization — told Al Jazeera that the consensus should pave the way for full recognition of the rights of Palestinians and the independence of the State of Palestine.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, or OIC, issued a statement, describing it as "an important step by the international community toward assuming its responsibility to stop the crime of Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people" that has been going on for about six months.

Arab nations, including the Gulf Cooperation Council countries — Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman — also welcomed the latest development.

Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, secretary-general of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, said he hoped the UNSC decision would lead to alleviating the suffering of the people of Gaza and called on Israeli forces to immediately comply with the resolution.

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit emphasized that the adoption of the resolution signifies a notable shift in the international stance toward the aggressive Israeli military campaign in Gaza.

Notable shift

He said the shift was highlighted by the US choosing not to use its veto power, as he underscored the need for collaborative international efforts to effectively implement the resolution in a form that brings an end to the ongoing bloodshed.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, in her social media post, said, "Australia welcomes today's UN Security Council resolution." And, "all parties to the conflict must comply with this resolution".

Haydar Oruc, a former researcher at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies in Turkiye, said the UN eventually adopted a resolution "thanks to the abstention of the United States".

"Although this decision was taken very late, it is truly hopeful as it is the only way to end the massacre in Gaza," said Oruc.

"The US' change in attitude is not about ending the suffering of the Palestinians, but about Biden's disagreement with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu," he added.

Ayman Yousef, a professor of international relations at the Arab American University in Jenin in the West Bank, said he felt the resolution was "weak".

"But it can put more pressure on Israel to be more realistic to be more pragmatic when it comes to their future negotiations," Yousef told China Daily.

The international community and humanitarian agencies have warned Israel not to attack Rafah, but to end "hell on earth" and prevent a looming "man-made famine "in Gaza, as several Arab countries reaffirmed their commitment to the Palestinian people.

On March 24, Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, shared on social media that the "main lifeline" for Palestinian refugees was "denied from providing lifesaving assistance to northern Gaza".

"Despite the tragedy unfolding under our watch, the Israeli authorities informed the UN that they will no longer approve any UNRWA food convoys to the north. This is outrageous and makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine. These restrictions must be lifted," Lazzarini wrote on X.

The UNRWA is the largest organization with the highest reach to displaced communities in Gaza. "By preventing UNRWA from fulfilling its mandate in Gaza, the clock will tick faster toward famine and many more will die of hunger, dehydration, and lack of shelter," he added.

Echoing similar sentiments, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths responded to Lazzarini's posts saying he had urged Israel to lift all impediments on aid to Gaza but lamented that "more impediments" were added instead.

"The decision to block its food convoys to the north only pushes thousands closer to famine. It must be revoked," said Griffiths.

In his meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, emphasized the UN Security Council's responsibility and expressed concern over certain countries withdrawing support for the UNRWA, which amounts to "collective punishment of innocent Palestinians".

Both parties acknowledged the gravity of the situation and stressed the importance of preventing further escalation. They also rejected attempts to displace Palestinians and warned against military operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah because of the potentially catastrophic impact in an already dire situation.

Shadow of starvation

Over the weekend, Guterres visited the Rafah border crossing linking Egypt and Gaza and renewed calls for a cease-fire as he lamented the "long line of blocked relief trucks" on one side of the gates and the "long shadow of starvation on the other". He also appealed to Israel for its "ironclad commitment" to allow unhindered aid deliveries.

The United Arab Emirates has affirmed its commitment to the Palestinian people and its solidarity and unwavering commitment to supporting the people of Gaza during these difficult times, Emirati news agency WAM reported on Saturday.

The commitment was affirmed by Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy at a conference on advancing a humanitarian maritime corridor for Gaza, held in Cyprus.

US Vice-President Kamala Harris told US broadcaster ABC News in an interview that they "have been clear in multiple conversations" with Israel that any major military operation in Rafah would be a "huge mistake".

France 24 reported that French President Emmanuel Macron told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call that any forced transfer of people from Rafah would constitute "a war crime".

Israel's ongoing retaliatory strikes in Gaza have killed more than 32,000 Palestinians and injured 74,518 others. The escalation happened following Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct 7 when 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.

In the latest developments on the battlefield, Israel's army said it was battling Hamas militants on Monday around two Gaza hospitals, reporting some 20 fighters killed in the past day in close-quarters combat and airstrikes.

Israel has launched raids on and near several Gaza hospitals since the war erupted in October, claiming that fighters have used them as bases, charges denied by Hamas.

Mediation by Qatar and Egypt has so far failed to secure a cease-fire, prisoner releases and unfettered aid to Gaza civilians facing famine, with each side sticking to core demands.

Hamas wants any truce deal to include an Israeli commitment to end the conflict and withdraw forces from Gaza. Israel has ruled this out, saying it will keep fighting until Hamas is eradicated as a political and military force.

Agencies contributed to this story.

The United Nations Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza for the holy month of Ramadan, marking the first such directive since the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict began on Oct 7, 2023.

The resolution, put forward by the 10 nonpermanent members of the Security Council, was approved with 14 out of 15 votes.

The United States, which had vetoed three previous cease-fire drafts, abstained from the vote, allowing the resolution to pass.

The resolution demands "an immediate cease-fire" for Ramadan respected by all parties, "leading to a permanent sustainable cease-fire". It also demands an immediate and unconditional release of hostages and emphasizes "the urgent need to expand the flow" of aid into Gaza.

Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, said that for the lives already lost in Gaza, "the council resolution today comes too late". More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and nearly 75,000 Palestinians injured since Oct 7, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

"For the millions of people in Gaza who remain mired in an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, this resolution, if fully and effectively implemented, could still bring long-awaited hope," Zhang added.

"We call on the parties concerned to fulfill their obligations under the United Nations Charter and to take due action as required by the resolution. We expect the state with significant influence to play a positive role on the party concerned, including by using all necessary and effective means at their disposal to support the implementation of the resolution," he said.

Noting that China, Russia and Algeria voted against the draft resolution proposed by the US on Friday, he explained the differences between the two drafts.

"The current draft is unequivocal and correct in its direction, demanding an immediate cease-fire, while the previous one has been evasive and ambiguous. The current draft demands an unconditional cease-fire, while the previous one has set pre-conditions for a cease-fire," said Zhang.

"The current draft reflects the general expectations of the international community and enjoys the collective support of the Arab states, while the previous one has been jointly rejected by the Arab states," he said, pointing to the no vote from Algeria on Friday, which said it represented the entire Arab world.

"The differences between the two drafts boil down to nothing but whether there should be an immediate and unconditional cease-fire and whether the collective punishment of the people in Gaza should be allowed to continue," he said.

Zhang said that after repeated vetoes of council actions, "the United States finally decided to stop obstructing the council's demand for an immediate cease-fire".

Following Monday's vote, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on X.com that the long-awaited resolution must be implemented, emphasizing that the council's failure to do so "would be unforgivable".

minluzhang@chinadailyusa.com

GAZA -- The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday.

During the past 24 hours, the Israeli army killed 107 Palestinians and wounded 176 others, it added.

This brings the total death toll to 32,333 and injuries to 74,694 since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on Oct 7, 2023, according to the ministry.

Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.

CAIRO -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and visiting United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday voiced complete rejection of the displacement of Palestinians from their territories and any Israeli military operation in the southernmost Gazan city of Rafah.

During their talks in Cairo, the two leaders warned against any Israeli operation in Rafah to unleash catastrophic consequences on the already dire situation in the city, said the Egyptian presidency in a statement.

They also discussed the intensified efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and deliver sufficient humanitarian aid to people in the besieged enclave, the statement added.

The president and the UN chief called for favorable conditions for implementing the two-state solution, calling it "the only path to achieve justice, security, and stability in the region."

Israel has been announcing plans to launch a large-scale ground operation in Rafah, where about 1.5 million internally displaced Palestinians reside, a move widely rejected by the international community.

Later in the day, at a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, the UN chief reiterated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel has imposed a strict siege and launched continued heavy strikes against Hamas for over five months.

"The time for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire is now," he said.

Israel's ongoing strikes in Gaza have so far killed 32,226 Palestinians and injured 74,518 others, the Gaza-based Palestinian Health Ministry updated in a statement on Sunday. The Israeli escalation came in retaliation for the attack launched by Gaza-ruling Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, on adjacent Israeli towns, in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.

"Nothing justifies the horrific attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, and nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people," Guterres told a press conference on Saturday at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, where he renewed the peace call.

GAZA -- The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 32,142, with 74,412 others wounded, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said on Saturday.

In a press statement sent to Xinhua, the ministry said the Israeli army killed 72 Palestinians and wounded 114 others during the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the Hamas-run government media office said the Israeli army threatened to bomb and destroy the buildings of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

The office said in a press statement that "we received testimonies from inside the Al-Shifa complex indicating that the Israeli army threatened the medical staff and the displaced inside the buildings that it would bomb and destroy them over their heads, or that they would go out for torture, investigation, and execution."

In addition, the Israeli army said in a press statement that its forces and the Shin Bet security service continue to fight in the Al-Shifa Hospital area, confirming that 170 people were killed in the area and more than 800 others were arrested.

In a statement, Hamas accused Israel of committing "horrific massacres" in the Al-Shifa complex, saying that "bombing defenseless civilians with drones is a war crime."

The recent operation began early Monday, with the Israeli forces attacking the compound with tanks and airstrikes.

Al-Shifa, which was Gaza's largest medical facility before the war, is now one of the few hospitals still functioning in the coastal enclave and also serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians.

Israel has targeted the hospital before, claiming that Hamas used it as a command center and hid weapons and fighters in underground tunnels underneath the complex.

Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.

GAZA -- The death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 31,988, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza announced Thursday.

The ministry said in a statement that the Israeli army killed 65 Palestinians and wounded 92 others during the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 31,988 and injuries to 74,188 since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on Oct. 7, 2023.

This comes as the Israeli army continues its operations in the Shifa hospital in Gaza City for the fourth day, during which about 600 Palestinians have been apprehended, and more than 140 others have been killed, the Israeli army said in a statement Thursday, claiming all of them are militants.

"Several weapons and intelligence documents" were discovered during searches in the hospital, according to the statement.

Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.

RIYADH -- Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jeddah on Wednesday, discussing situations in the Gaza Strip, particularly the southern city of Rafah, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Both sides stressed the importance of an immediate ceasefire and highlighted the need to make all efforts to ensure the entry of urgent humanitarian aid into the territory, according to the report.

During the meeting, the two sides reviewed ways to enhance bilateral relations and promote joint cooperation in various fields.

Saudi Arabia is the first stop of Blinken's sixth Middle East trip amid efforts to broker a truce in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct 7, 2023. He is due to visit Egypt on Thursday and Israel on Friday.

The latest round of contentious cease-fire talks in Qatar ended without a deal, even as Israel is accused of weaponizing starvation as it prepares to attack the city of Rafah in Gaza.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said they were "cautiously optimistic" about the Doha negotiations to stop the conflict in Gaza, adding that it was too early to talk about progress or success.

Al-Ansari said the initiative to establish a maritime corridor in Gaza, in which Qatar is playing an important operational role, comes within the framework of a set of initiatives to increase the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, adding the maritime corridor "does not eliminate the need for unconditional entry of aid through land corridors".

"It is a shame that the humanitarian issue is on the negotiating table and that aid trucks are used (by Israel) as a pressure card, while we are on the verge of famine in the strip," said Al-Ansari.

Israel has been carrying out military retaliation in the Gaza Strip since the attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Oct 7, in which about 1,200 people in Israel were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage. The Palestinian toll in Gaza has reached 31,923, the Hamas-run health ministry said on Wednesday.

Israel sent a delegation, led by David Barnea, chief of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, to Qatar on Sunday for new truce talks concerning a hostage deal with Hamas. The talks were also attended by Qatari and Egyptian officials.

The Israeli delegation returned to Tel Aviv on Tuesday, the Times of Israel reported.

On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected an appeal from the United States to cancel a ground operation in Rafah, where about 1.5 million displaced Palestinians reside, but agreed to send a delegation to Washington for discussions, Xinhua News Agency reported.

In his meeting with the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday, Netanyahu said: "We are of course under growing international pressure, which we are rejecting in order to achieve the goals of the war.

"We have a debate with the Americans over the need to enter Rafah, not over the need to eliminate Hamas, but the need to enter Rafah. We see no way to eliminate Hamas militarily without destroying these remaining battalions," he said.

United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths said on his X account that with famine imminent, "we must flood Gaza with food and other lifesaving aid".

UN human rights chief Volker Turk said on Tuesday that the situation of hunger, starvation and famine "is a result of Israel's extensive restrictions on the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid and commercial goods, displacement of most of the population, as well as the destruction of crucial civilian infrastructure".

Catastrophic hunger

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification earlier released a report warning that "famine is imminent in the northern governorates and projected to occur anytime between mid-March and May 2024"as the conflict has left about 1.1 million people experiencing "catastrophic" hunger.

"The initial strategy involves negotiating a cease-fire to endure for a duration of six weeks. However, the predominant perspective is that Israel harbors concerns that any pause in hostilities will enable Hamas to reconsolidate its position," said Gokhan Ereli, Gulf studies coordinator at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies in Turkiye.

Despite this, the diminishing rhetoric of political backing for Israel from the US "appears to be a compelling factor driving Israel to the negotiation table".

"Israel is perceived to be employing a strategy of weaponizing starvation against the majority of Gaza's population, particularly concentrated in the Rafah district along Gaza's border with Egypt. Israel is reluctant to make concessions at this juncture and incite resistance within Gaza," Ereli said.

"Concurrently, there is an attempt to weaponize the negotiations by portraying them as the ultimate dialogue, the final round of talks," he said.

Multiple international humanitarian agencies have warned of looming catastrophic famine and food insecurity in Gaza amid slow aid delivery, underscoring the need for unimpeded critical supplies through land routes as Israel's retaliatory bombardment continued.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said outside the Security Council in New York on Monday that Palestinians in Gaza were enduring "horrifying levels of hunger and suffering".

He called on the Israeli authorities to ensure complete and unfettered access to humanitarian goods throughout Gaza and for the international community to fully support the UN's humanitarian efforts.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said on Monday that before the crisis, there "was enough food in Gaza to feed the population".

"Malnutrition was a rare occurrence. Now, people are dying, and many more are sick. Over a million people are expected to face catastrophic hunger unless significantly more food is allowed to enter Gaza," he said.

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell on Monday said that Israel's military campaign had turned Gaza from the world's "greatest open-air prison" into its biggest "open-air graveyard".

He hoped that the EU ministers would discuss and review the bloc's joint position on the situation.

Other organizations, including Oxfam, said in a statement that "we cannot wait for a declaration of famine to stop these appalling atrocities and massively scale up humanitarian operations".

The statement also called for an immediate permanent cease-fire and a political solution, including "ending the occupation and release of all hostages and illegally held prisoners".

Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, lamented on his X account on Monday that Israeli authorities had denied his entry into Gaza.

"This human-made starvation under our watch is a stain on our collective humanity. … Famine can be averted with political will," said Lazzarini.

On March 12, the Spanish vessel Open Arms left Cyprus with a United Arab Emirates-funded shipment of some 200 metric tons of flour, protein and rice. The cargo, organized by the United States charity World Central Kitchen, was offloaded in Gaza, the Arab News reported.

The US, since the start of March, and with some help from Jordanian forces, had also conducted the airdrops of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Prioritize cease-fire

But on March 14, 25 nongovernmental organizations called on governments to prioritize cease-fire and ground-based humanitarian aid, saying that the States "cannot hide behind airdrops and efforts to open a maritime corridor to create the illusion that they are doing enough to support the needs in Gaza".

They said the primary responsibility was to prevent atrocities from unfolding.

"Even if trucks are allowed to enter, the number per day is minimal, insufficient to meet the needs of 2.3 million Gaza residents. From South to North Gaza, aid truck convoys were also blocked by Israel so that aid workers could not distribute the food. Israel also carried out attacks on aid workers and humanitarian facilities, including the UN agency," Dina Yulianti Sulaeman, director of the Indonesia Center for Middle East Studies, told China Daily.

"The only solution is to open the land borders so that trucks can bring as much help as possible," she added.

According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, report released on Monday, its acute food insecurity analysis conducted in December warned of a risk that famine may occur by the end of May if hostilities continued. The analysis also noted that half of the population of the Gaza Strip, or 1.11 million people, is expected to face catastrophic conditions, the most severe level on the IPC Acute Food Insecurity scale.

Guterres described the IPC report as an "appalling indictment of conditions on the ground for civilians".

jan@chinadailyapac.com

GAZA -- At least 23 Palestinians were killed and several others were injured on Tuesday evening in an Israeli airstrike on a gathering of people at the Kuwait Roundabout in Gaza City, according to Palestinian News Agency WAFA.

Local sources told Xinhua that warplanes targeted a local voluntary group, the "Aid Procurement Committee," while they were near the roundabout, causing many injuries, who were later transferred to hospitals in Gaza City.

Local Palestinian tribes formed the group to protect trucks loaded with aid to Gaza City and its north, according to the sources.

The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 31,819, with 73,934 others wounded, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

JERUSALEM/GAZA — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has railed against growing criticism from top ally the United States against his leadership amid the devastating fighting with Hamas, as its military troops raided Gaza's main hospital.

In recent days, US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the country and a strong Israel supporter, called on Israel to hold a new election, saying Netanyahu had "lost his way".

US President Joe Biden expressed support for Schumer's "good speech", and earlier accused Netanyahu of hurting Israel because of the huge civilian death toll in Gaza.

Netanyahu told Fox News on Sunday that Israel never would have called for a new US election after the Sept 11 attacks in 2001, and denounced Schumer's comments as inappropriate.

"We're not a banana republic," he said. "The people of Israel will choose when they will have elections, and who they'll elect, and it's not something that will be foisted on us."

When asked by CNN whether he would commit to a new election after the conflict ends, Netanyahu said: "I think that's something for the Israeli public to decide."

The US, which has provided key military and diplomatic support to Israel, has also expressed concerns over a planned Israeli assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where about 1.4 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering.

On developments of the mediation efforts, the Israeli delegation to the new round of cease-fire talks was expected to leave for Qatar.

Despite the talks, Netanyahu made it clear he would not back down from the fighting that has killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials. More than five months have passed since Hamas' attack on southern Israel killed 1,200 people and left another 250 hostages.

Deeply troubled

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, in Washington for St. Patrick's Day, said during a White House reception that the Irish people were "deeply troubled" by what's unfolding in Gaza. He said there was much to learn from Ireland's peace process and the critical US involvement in it.

Varadkar said he is often asked why the Irish are so empathetic to the Palestinians.

"We see our history in their eyes. A story of displacement, dispossession, and national identity questioned and denied forced emigration, discrimination and now hunger," he said.

Israel's offensive has driven most of Gaza's 2.3 million people from their homes. Famine is expected between now and May in the north of the Gaza Strip, a UN-backed report said on Monday.

Despite mounting calls for a cease-fire, the Israeli military said on Monday its troops raided the compound of Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital, in an operation Palestinian health authorities said had caused multiple casualties and set off a fierce fire in one of the buildings.

The military said soldiers were conducting a "precise operation" and were fired upon when they entered the compound.

"The troops responded with live fire and hits were identified. Our troops are continuing to operate in the area of the hospital," it added.

"There are casualties, including deaths and injuries, and it's impossible to rescue anyone due to the intensity of the fire and targeting of anyone approaching the windows," Gaza's Health Ministry said, accusing Israeli forces of "another crime against health institutions".

The military said troops had been instructed on the importance of operating cautiously as well as on measures to be taken to avoid harm to patients, civilians, medical staff and medical equipment and said patients were not required to evacuate.

Hamas said in a statement the Israeli military had committed a new crime by directly targeting the hospital buildings without caring about patients, medical staff, or displaced people.

Agencies via Xinhua

JERUSALEM - Israeli forces launched a military operation in the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City before dawn on Monday, Israeli officials said.

In video footage on social networks, heavy gunfire could be heard in the vicinity of the hospital. The Israeli Ha'aretz newspaper reported that there were fatalities and injuries in the hospital.

The Health Ministry in Gaza said in a statement that the Israeli military attacked the al-Shifa complex, blaming the army for aiming "to continue destroying the health system in northern Gaza". The ministry urged international organizations to "immediately" intervene to protect the hospital and the patients inside it.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesman Daniel Hagari announced the raid in a video release, saying the army had "concrete intelligence that demanded immediate action".

According to a separate statement released by the army, the information indicates "the use of the hospital by senior Hamas" militants to carry out attacks against Israel.

According to the army, Palestinian militants opened fire at the troops from within the hospital and the troops responded with live fire. "Hits were identified," it said. The operation was ongoing in the morning hours.

The army added that it would not force patients and medical staff to evacuate during the raid.

Al-Shifa, the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, has been previously targeted by the Israeli army.

DAMASCUS -- An explosion shook the eastern countryside of the southern Syrian province of Daraa on Sunday night, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The war monitor reported that the explosion coincided with Jordanian warplanes flying over the Syrian-Jordanian border.

Local news outlets said that Jordanian aircraft conducted three airstrikes near the Nasib border crossing, targeting a suspected mobile unit, possibly a small transport bus, which caught fire as a result.

The Jordanian army said in a statement that its air defense radar system has detected suspicious aerial movements from an unknown source along the border with Syria.

Jordanian airstrikes have previously targeted alleged drug traffickers attempting to smuggle drugs into Jordan from Syria.

DOHA/JERUSALEM — Efforts toward a truce in the Gaza conflict appeared to rekindle on Saturday after a new proposal from Hamas that also called for more aid into Gaza, where the first food shipment by sea reached shore.

Israel said it would send a delegation to Qatar for a new round of talks on a possible deal. It also advanced plans for a military operation in Rafah, where most of Gaza's population has sought refuge from more than five months of fighting and deprivation.

The US charity World Central Kitchen said its team had finished unloading almost 200 metric tons of food, the first shipment to arrive on a new maritime aid corridor from Cyprus. "All cargo was offloaded and is being readied for distribution in Gaza," it said.

The Cypriot government said that a second aid ship, the Jennifer, would depart soon, although World Central Kitchen later said bad weather made it hard to predict when the vessel, carrying 240 tons of food, would set sail.

"Maritime weather reports show bad weather from Sunday until the end of next week, so the exact timing of the sailing for either boat to return to Gaza is not available at this time," the charity said.

The United Nations has reported particular difficulty in accessing north Gaza to distribute food and other aid.

Residents say they have resorted to eating wild plants and animal fodder, and some have stormed the few aid trucks that have made it through.

"Doctors are reporting that they no longer see normal-sized babies," Dominic Allen of the United Nations Population Fund said after visiting the area.

Many governments have begun daily aid airdrops over Gaza. But air and sea missions are no alternative to land deliveries, UN agencies say. Humanitarian agencies have cited Israeli restrictions as among the obstacles they face.

The health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said at least 63 people had been killed over the previous 24 hours.

36 dead in strike

Earlier on Saturday, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra reported 36 deaths from a strike on a house sheltering displaced people in Nuseirat, central Gaza.

The Israeli military said it had targeted two "terror operatives" in Nuseirat.

In negotiations aimed at securing a truce and hostage release deal, Hamas has put forward a new proposal for a six-week cease-fire and the exchange of about 42 Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, an official from the Islamist group told Agence France-Presse.

The Hamas attack resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign against Hamas has killed at least 31,645 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry.

Until Friday, Hamas had insisted no further hostages would be exchanged without a permanent cease-fire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Now the militants are saying that, during a six-week truce, Israeli forces would need to pull out of "all cities and populated areas" in Gaza, according to a Hamas official.

The White House said on Friday it was "cautiously optimistic" about the prospects for a new truce but stressed that negotiations were far from over.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israeli troops would pursue a planned ground offensive in Rafah despite international pressure.

The conflict and security cabinets were to meet on Sunday to decide on the negotiators' mandate, his office added. Israel did not attend earlier negotiations in Cairo that failed to secure a truce for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began last Monday.

The United States, which provides Israel with billions of dollars in military assistance, has grown increasingly critical of Netanyahu over his handling of the conflict.

Agencies via Xinhua

GAZA -- At least 36 Palestinians were killed, and several others were wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, medical sources and eyewitnesses said Saturday.

Eyewitnesses told Xinhua that the Israeli aircraft targeted a house for the Tabatibi family, west of the Nuseirat camp, with a number of missiles, which led to its complete destruction and damage to neighboring homes.

Medical sources told Xinhua that the Israeli raid resulted in the killing of 36 people, including children and pregnant women.

Meanwhile, Hamas-run government media office held the American administration, the international community, and Israel "fully responsible for the escalation of these crimes and massacres against defenseless civilians."

The office called on in a statement all countries of the free world to put pressure on Israel to stop the "genocidal war".

GAZA - The first aid ship, traveling through the Cyprus-Gaza humanitarian maritime corridor, reached the coast of the Palestinian enclave on Friday and began offloading its cargo, Palestinian sources said.

The 200 tonnes of humanitarian aid onboard the ship was received by workers with the World Central Kitchen (WCK), who will facilitate its distribution to the local population grappling with severe food shortages, the sources told Xinhua.

"Our team in Gaza is offloading desperately needed food from our first maritime aid shipment under Operation Safeena", WCK said in a statement, adding a crane also arrived at the Gazan coast to expedite the transfer of aid from the ship to delivery trucks.

The vessel, manned by the Spanish aid organization Open Arms, left Cyprus on Tuesday.

JERUSALEM -- Israel received Hamas's response to a new ceasefire deal proposal from Qatari mediators on Thursday, an Israeli official confirmed to Xinhua.

David Barnea, chief of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, received the written response from Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, according to the official speaking on condition of anonymity.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued a statement, saying Hamas "continues to fortify itself with unfounded demands." The office added that the wartime Cabinet is expected to convene on Friday to discuss the proposal.

Despite the comment from the prime minister's office, the Israeli state-owned Kan TV news reported that the document includes a list of demands that Israel considers "reasonable."

Hamas confirmed in a statement that it has presented a "comprehensive vision" of a truce that includes a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza since the group launched its deadly attack on Israel on Oct 7 last year.

GAZA -- At least 21 Palestinians were killed and 150 others wounded in an Israeli attack on a gathering of Palestinians waiting for aid in Gaza City, Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

The witnesses and sources told Xinhua a group of Palestinians were at the Kuwait roundabout in Gaza to obtain aid as helicopters opened fire with their machine guns and launched shells toward the gathering.

The statement mentioned that despite challenging field conditions, efforts to recover the deceased and evacuate the injured are ongoing.

The number of the killed is expected to rise due to serious injuries, it added.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Friday denied media reports that its military fired at Palestinians in southern Gaza City.

"The reports that the IDF attacked dozens of Gazans at an aid distribution point are false," the IDF said on Telegram.

GAZA -- The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 31,341, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Thursday.

During the past 24 hours, the Israeli army killed 69 Palestinians and wounded 110 others in the coastal enclave, bringing the total death toll to 31,341 and injuries to 73,134 since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict on Oct 7, 2023, it said.

The statement noted that some victims remained trapped under rubble due to heavy bombardment and a lack of civil defense and ambulance crews.

Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.