GAZA - Dozens of Palestinians were killed and injured in an Israeli attack while they were waiting for aid in Gaza City, said Hamas-run Health Ministry Spokesman Ashraf al-Qedra in a press statement on Sunday.

Palestinian security and medical sources told Xinhua that Israeli forces opened fire on people at the Kuwait roundabout, south of Gaza City, while they were waiting for aid trucks loaded with flour.

Earlier on Sunday, Israeli warplanes bombed a small truck carrying humanitarian aid in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, killing at least eight, according to the state-run Palestine TV.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the incidents.

AMMAN -- Jordan and the United States on Saturday jointly carried out airdrops of aid to Gaza, the first time that the United States participated in the multinational humanitarian effort.

Two aircraft from the Jordan Armed Forces airdropped in the northern Gaza Strip, while three aircraft belonging to the US Air Force airdropped in the south, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

The US Air Force said its three planes carried 66 bundles containing about 38,000 meals.

Jordan has been air-dropping supplies directly to Gaza and sending aid planes to Egypt's North Sinai since November last year.

Some of the operations involve cooperation with other countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, France, and Britain, among others.

Israeli troops in the northern Gaza Strip opened fire on Palestinians scrambling for food aid on Thursday in a chaotic incident that the Hamas-run health ministry said killed 112 people, drawing sweeping condemnation worldwide.

Though there were conflicting reports on how the predawn incident unfolded, the Israeli military said a "stampede" occurred when thousands of Gazans surrounded a convoy of 38 aid trucks, leading to dozens of deaths and injuries.

It also spurred heated exchange at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, where Palestinian Ambassador Ibrahim Mohammad Khraishi confronted his Israeli counterpart about the reported casualties.

"Are these human shields? Are these Hamas combatants?" Khraishi asked.

At Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, a Palestinian woman said: "We are under siege. Take pity on us. Ramadan is coming soon. People should look at us. Pity us."

The United Nations said 2.2 million people — the vast majority of Gaza's population — are threatened with famine, particularly in the north where destruction, fighting and looting make the delivery of food almost impossible.

"There were crowds of people, but the occupation (forces) kept firing toward us," one young man said while lying on the dirty, crowded floor at Kamal Adwan Hospital waiting for treatment. He was among those wounded in the chaos.

Ali Awad Ashqir, who had gone to get some flour for his starving family, had been waiting for two hours when violence erupted.

"At approximately 4 am, the trucks began to arrive. The moment they arrived, the occupation army fired artillery shells and guns," he said.

Hossam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, said all casualties were hit by "bullets and shrapnel from occupation forces".

Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for Gaza's health ministry, denounced what he called a "massacre", saying 760 people were also wounded and blaming Israeli troops.

Conflicting reports

Israeli sources confirmed to Agence France-Presse that Israeli forces at the scene did open fire, having perceived the crowds near the trucks as a "threat".

But a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said many of the dead were crushed by the trucks themselves.

"Aid trucks were overwhelmed by people trying to loot and drivers plowed into the crowd of people, ultimately killing tens of people," spokesman Avi Hyman said.

Umm Hamdan Abu Sultan, a woman waiting for aid near the scene, said: "They are the terrorists, not us.

"Our children are dying of hunger, we go to get a bag of flour to feed our children and they fire at them."

Condemnation over the attack have poured in from around the world.

China is shocked by the incident and strongly condemns the attacks on civilians waiting for aid in Gaza, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Friday.

"We mourn for the victims and send our sympathies to the injured," Mao said.

China urges relevant parties, especially Israel, to immediately end the violence, protect the safety of civilians, and ensure the access of humanitarian aid so as to avoid an even worse humanitarian catastrophe.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the incident and was "appalled by the tragic human toll of the conflict".

Turkiye accused Israel of committing "another crime against humanity" and condemning the Gazans to "famine" as civilians scavenge for dwindling supplies of food.

"The fact that Israel ... this time targets innocent civilians in a queue for humanitarian aid, is evidence that (Israel) aims consciously and collectively to destroy the Palestinian people," the Foreign Ministry said.

Saudi Arabia condemned the targeting of unarmed civilians and reiterated "the need to reach an immediate cease-fire".

The United Arab Emirates also called for "an independent and transparent investigation, and the punishment" of those responsible, and warned of a "catastrophic and dangerous humanitarian situation".

Qatar condemned "in the strongest terms the heinous massacre committed by the Israeli occupation", calling for "urgent international action" to halt the fighting in Gaza.

In the United States, President Joe Biden said the incident would complicate delicate cease-fire negotiations in the almost 5-month-old conflict, with the White House calling the deaths "tremendously alarming".

The European Union's chief, Ursula von der Leyen, on Friday said she was "deeply disturbed by images from Gaza".

France said "the fire by Israeli soldiers against civilians trying to access food is unjustifiable".

Colombian President Gustavo Petro denounced what he called a "genocide" of the Palestinian people and suspended purchases of weapons from Israel.

Agencies and Zhou Jin in Beijing contributed to this story.

jan@chinadailyapac.com

CAIRO -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and his US counterpart Joe Biden discussed the need to calm the situation in the Gaza Strip, achieve a ceasefire, exchange captives and facilitate access to humanitarian aid during a phone conversation on Thursday, said the Egyptian presidency.

During the call, Sisi underscored the need to reach an immediate and sustainable ceasefire that allows the delivery of humanitarian aid in the war-ravaged Palestinian coastal enclave.

He warned of the repercussions of "continuing military escalation and targeting civilians" in Gaza.

For his part, Biden said that "achieving calm is a priority to restore stability in the region."

The US president noted that he values the intensified Egyptian efforts toward achieving calm in Gaza and its role in delivering relief aid to the people of Gaza via Rafah crossing.

The two presidents stressed the necessity to avoid the expansion of conflict in the region.

So far, 30,035 Palestinians have been killed and 70,475 others injured in the Gaza Strip since Israel began its offensive against Hamas in October 2023, the Hamas-run health ministry said on Thursday.

GAZA/JERUSALEM - Israeli forces opened fire Thursday on a crowd of Palestinians waiting for aid on a coastal road west of Gaza City, killing 104 people and wounding more than 760, Palestinian officials said.

The attack occurred on Al Rashid Street, where many of the wounded were in critical condition, said Ashraf al-Qudra, a spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry. He said the dead and injured, many with serious injuries, were taken to Al-Shifa Hospital, which is overwhelmed and under-equipped.

Eyewitnesses said the Israeli army targeted a large gathering of civilians on the street.

An Israeli military spokesman said the troops fired "in self-defense" after Gazans attacked and looted aid trucks that entered the Gaza Strip early in the morning. He said dozens of Gazans were injured in the chaos, some by being crushed or trampled.

He said some of the Gazans approached the soldiers in "a threatening manner", forcing them to respond with live fire.

The Hamas-run health ministry said earlier Thursday that more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed and 70,000 wounded in the Gaza Strip since Israel launched a massive offensive against Hamas in October 2023.

Israel says the operation is a response to a Hamas raid across the southern Israeli border that killed about 1,400 people and took more than 200 hostages.

Arab countries have actively facilitated mediation and promoted talks in the latest round of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and are expected to play a positive role in Gaza's reconstruction in the future, experts said.

Niu Xinchun, executive director of the China-Arab Research Institute at Ningxia University, said that in the ongoing Gaza conflict, Arab countries have played a relatively active role. "The temporary cease-fire deal currently under negotiation would be impossible to reach without the mediation of Qatar and Egypt," Niu said.

Saudi Arabia is also leveraging its influence to urge Israel toward a two-state solution, suggesting that it would normalize relations with Israel if it allows a sovereign Palestinian state.

"Looking at the Arab countries as a whole, they are acting independently and autonomously to influence the development of the situation in Gaza, promoting a cease-fire and the two-state solution, and pushing the regional situation toward peace and stability," he added.

These remarks were made at a symposium held on Wednesday in Beijing for the release of the Annual Report on the Development in the Middle East 2022-2023 compiled by the Institute of West-Asian and African Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and other Chinese research institutions.

The report points out that the Middle East is experiencing profound changes, with strategic autonomy, development prioritization and reconciliation becoming three important characteristics of new changes in the region.

According to the report, strategic autonomy has become a key trend among Middle Eastern countries. They are actively defining the region's own development path and their own national path of development, with a clear prioritization of development as their strategic focus.

Pursuing reconciliation has also become a practical choice for these nations as they work to lower regional tensions and resolve conflicts, all in the interest of fostering a peaceful environment for development, the report said.

In this round of the Gaza conflict, the strategic autonomy of Arab nations is shown in the fact that despite the pressure the US put on them, Arab nations did not follow the policy of the US but maintained their independent stand, said Tang Zhichao, a researcher of Middle East studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict progresses, the role of Arab countries will become more prominent. When it comes to the reconstruction of Gaza and its future governance, Arab countries are expected to play a significant role, Niu said.

Given the strategic independence and development-focused priorities of Arab countries at present, they are increasingly capable of fostering stable regional development and steering the course toward peace, he said.

GAZA - More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began its offensive against Hamas in October, the Hamas-run health ministry said on Thursday as the Israeli army fired at a crowd of people waiting for humanitarian aid in western Gaza, killing at least 104 people.

The ministry said 81 Palestinians were killed and 132 wounded in the past 24 hours, bringing the total casualties to 30,035 dead and 70,475 injured since the conflict erupted on Oct 7, 2023.

Shortly after the ministry announced the grim milestone, medical sources in Gaza told Xinhua that at least 104 people died and more than 760 were hurt on Thursday when Israelis opened fire at a gathering of Palestinians on a coastal road west of Gaza City, where they were expecting aid trucks to arrive.

The wounded, many of them in critical condition, were taken to Al-Shifa Hospital, which is struggling with a shortage of medical supplies and equipment, the sources said.

Witnesses told Xinhua news agency that the Israeli army targeted the civilians on Al-Rashid Street, causing a large number of casualties.

The Palestinian foreign ministry denounced the attack as a "heinous massacre" and part of the Israeli war that aims "to clear the northern Gaza Strip of its population."

The attack "shows that the Israeli government ignores the international calls and demands to protect civilians," the ministry said in a statement, urging an immediate ceasefire as the only way to save lives.

An Israeli military spokesman said the troops fired "in self-defense" after Gazans attacked and looted aid trucks that entered the Gaza Strip early in the morning. He said dozens of Gazans were injured in the chaos, some by being crushed or trampled.

He said some of the Gazans approached the soldiers in "a threatening manner," forcing them to respond with live fire.

Israel launched its assault on Hamas in response to a cross-border raid by the militant group on Oct 7, 2023, in which about 1,400 Israelis were killed and more than 200 taken captive.

DAMASCUS -- Israel conducted missile attacks on areas south of the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Wednesday night, according to witnesses and state TV.

State TV reported that the Syrian air defenses managed to shoot down the majority of the Israeli missiles.

Eyewitnesses told Xinhua that the attack hit areas south of Damascus, specifically Babila and Sayyida Zaynab.

The Sayyida Zaynab area is recognized as a stronghold for pro-Iran militias.

GAZA - The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 29,954 as the Israeli military killed 76 in the past 24 hours, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, 110 others were wounded, bringing the total number of Palestinian injuries since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out in early October to 70,325, the ministry said in a statement.

It noted that some victims remain under the rubble amid heavy bombardment and a lack of civil defense and ambulance crews.

Also on Wednesday, Israeli media outlets reported that two officers were killed and seven soldiers were injured during battles in the Gaza Strip, pushing the death toll to 582.

Citing IDF sources, the reports said Israel's ground operations continued throughout the Gaza Strip under the support of air and naval bombardment.

The reports said the Israeli army destroyed tunnels and other Hamas infrastructure, eliminating "terrorist cells" and seizing large quantities of weapons.

In addition, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesman Daniel Hagari said that the goal of the war in Gaza, which is to ensure the Oct 7 attack never ever happens again, will take time to achieve.

Israel has pushed forward 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.

A Chinese envoy at the United Nations said on Tuesday that China will make "tireless" efforts to restore peace, save lives and ensure that humanitarian aid makes it to Gaza.

More than four months since the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza, nearly 30,000 civilians have died, and Gaza "has sunk into an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe", said Dai Bing, chargé d'affaires a.i. for China's UN mission.

Dai said that what is happening in Gaza violates international law and "goes beyond the bottom line of human morality and conscience, as millions of people in Gaza are suffering the pain of losing their loved ones or still unable to find safe shelter after multiple times of forced displacement".

"People lack the most basic safety guarantees and supplies for survival and are constantly faced with the threat of death, hunger, and disease," Dai said. "Women and children are living in fear and desperation every single day."

China urges the international society to take action to protect civilians, save lives and make every effort to prevent an even greater humanitarian disaster, he said.

Dai noted that the UN Security Council has adopted resolutions 2712 and 2720, calling for aid to get through and for the release of hostages.

"However, due to man-made obstacles, the entry of humanitarian supplies into Gaza has faced many difficulties. For nearly a month now, the humanitarian supplies received in Gaza have been far below the average of earlier periods, and Northern Gaza has not received any humanitarian supplies," Dai said.

"We call on Israel to earnestly fulfill its obligations as the occupying power under the Geneva Convention, fully cooperate in the implementation of Security Council resolutions, open up all land, sea, and air access routes, and ensure the safe, rapid, and unimpeded entry of humanitarian supplies."

Dai said that Israel "should strictly comply with the requirements of the de-confliction mechanism, guarantee the safety of humanitarian agencies and personnel, and provide necessary facilitation for humanitarian agencies to carry out assistance in Gaza".

The International Court of Justice ordered provisional measures that require Israel "to take all measures to prevent genocide and provide the population in Gaza with urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance, and the order must be effectively implemented", Dai added.

Dai said that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is the "lifeline" for the people in Gaza, and its role "is indispensable and irreplaceable".

China will support the UN in conducting an independent, impartial investigation into allegations against UNRWA staff, and Israel should support and cooperate with the UN in the investigation, Dai said. The international community should continue to support UNRWA and other humanitarian agencies in their work, he said.

Dai said that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has on numerous occasions said that with Gaza under gunfire, conditions are impossible for the delivery of humanitarian aid.

An immediate cease-fire is the necessary precondition for protecting civilians, delivering assistance, and alleviating the humanitarian disaster, Dai said. That is currently the "overwhelming call of the international community and the overwhelming consensus among council members", he said.

THE HAGUE - The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday concluded the public hearings on the legal consequences of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and began its deliberation.

An advisory opinion will be delivered at a public sitting, whose date will be announced in due course, ICJ President Nawaf Salam said in his concluding remarks.

A ruling is expected next year or maybe late this year.

Palestine, 49 UN member states, and three international organizations presented oral statements at the hearings requested by the UN General Assembly, the ICJ said Monday in a press release.

Without participating in the hearings from last Monday, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office issued a statement rejecting the legitimacy of the hearings, accusing them of attempting to further undermine Israel's right to survival and self-defense.

The hearings started with Palestine's statement. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki said that many Palestinians have been killed or forced to become refugees, and deprived of the right to return to their land and homes, adding that under international law, Israel should immediately and unconditionally end its "illegal" occupation.

Palestine's UN envoy Riyad Mansour said that the ICJ should declare in its ruling that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal, so as to pave the way for an immediate end to the occupation and achieve a "just and lasting peace".

"The injustice being wrought against the people of Gaza, as we convene here in the Great Hall of Justice, makes it imperative to end Israel's impunity and hold it accountable to the rule of law," Mohamed Helal, a professor of law, said Monday on behalf of the African Union.

Abdel Hakim El Rifai, representative of the Permanent Mission of the League of Arab States in Brussels, said that "only the rule of law, not the prevailing 'law of the jungle' will pave the way to peace in the whole region," and "ending the occupation is the gateway to peaceful coexistence."

Hissein Brahim Taha, secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, said that his organization of 57 member states is "deeply concerned about the ongoing aggression that Israel, the occupying power, is waging against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the vital risk posed to them by Israel's operations."

This is the second time in 20 years that the ICJ was asked by the UN General Assembly to provide an advisory opinion on the issue of the occupied Palestinian territories.

In 2004, the ICJ ruled that Israel's separation wall in the occupied Palestinian territory on the West Bank violated international law and should be demolished, but the wall still stands.

UNITED NATIONS - The world body wants to see a strengthened and empowered Palestinian government, said a UN spokesman in response to the resignation of the government led by Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres takes note of Monday's announcement by Shtayyeh that he handed his government's resignation to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN chief.

"A strengthened, empowered Palestinian government that can administer the whole of the occupied Palestinian territory is critical as part of a path to achieving the establishment of a fully independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign and viable Palestinian state, on the basis of the 1967 lines, of which Gaza is an integral part, which remains the only way to achieve a lasting peace," said the spokesman.

The United Nations stands ready to continue supporting efforts aimed at overcoming the humanitarian, political, financial as well as security challenges facing the Palestinian people, he told a daily press briefing.

Turning to the situation on the ground, the spokesman said the Palestine Red Crescent Society, supported by the World Health Organization and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), has completed the evacuation of 72 critical patients from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

The UN Population Fund reports that newborns are dying in Gaza because their mothers are unable to attend prenatal or postnatal checkups while the incessant bombings, fleeing for safety and anxiety are leading to premature births, said the spokesman.

In its daily update on the situation in Gaza, OCHA said intense Israeli bombardment from air, land and sea continued to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip on Monday, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of civilian infrastructure.

Ground operations and heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups also continued. Between Friday and Monday, tens of rockets were reportedly fired by armed Palestinian groups toward Israel, said OCHA.

Since Oct 7, 2023, at least 29,782 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 70,043 Palestinians have been injured, OCHA quoted the Ministry of Health in Gaza as saying.

Reports of a possible temporary cease-fire deal in the Israel-Palestine conflict have been welcomed by analysts as they noted that starvation is taking a toll on civilian lives amid an ongoing food crisis in Gaza.

Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, lamented that the last time the organization was able to deliver food aid to northern Gaza was on Jan 23, adding that their calls to send food aid "have been denied and have fallen on deaf ears".

Doha-based news outlet Al Jazeera reported on Sunday that a 2-month-old Palestinian boy died from starvation in northern Gaza, just days after international child welfare advocates warned of an "explosion" in child deaths due to Israel's attacks on the besieged enclave.

On Feb 19, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and the World Food Programme issued a consolidated statement, noting that before the ongoing hostilities, malnutrition was rare in Gaza with just 0.8 percent of children under 5 classified as acutely malnourished.

Acute malnutrition now affecting 15.6 percent of children under 2 in northern Gaza suggests "a serious and rapid decline".

"The deliberate starvation, particularly evident in the northern part of Gaza, is viewed as a coercive tactic aimed at compelling Palestinian resistance factions to acquiesce to Israeli terms," Belal Alakhras, a political analyst and Palestinian researcher at the University of Malaya in Malaysia, told China Daily.

"Amid this critical juncture in Gaza with far-reaching regional implications, the role of international actors comes under scrutiny, serving as a litmus test of whether the global landscape remains predominantly under the sway of US unipolarity or has indeed transitioned to a multipolar reality," he added.

Negotiations on hammering out an urgent cease-fire deal took place in Paris among representatives from Egypt, Qatar, the United States, and Israel on Friday.

Conditions on a potential six-week pause involve a prisoner swap deal between Hamas and Israeli authorities, various media outlets reported.

The talks were set to resume in Qatar where an Israeli delegation was expected to arrive to continue securing a pause in the conflict in Gaza that may see its hostages being released.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US broadcaster CBS News it was unclear whether a hostage deal would materialize from the negotiations but said Hamas needed to make more reasonable demands as he accused them of being on "another planet".

Mediation visit

Meanwhile, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, whose country has been involved in mediation efforts, is scheduled to visit Paris for his first state visit to France since becoming emir in 2013. Gaza is expected to be the dominant subject of his talks with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Alakhras from the University of Malaya noted that almost five months into the conflict, Israel had yet to achieve its stated military objectives.

This dilemma, he said, "has not gone unnoticed by Israel's allies", who are now exploring alternative approaches to safeguard Israeli interests "amid this quagmire".

"Discussions of a potential pause or cease-fire in Gaza reflect a maneuver to secure the release of Israeli prisoners in exchange for Palestinian detainees, affording Israel the opportunity to reassess its approach to the situation," said Alakhras.

"In contrast, Palestinians are seeking a cessation of hostilities to stop the ongoing bloodshed, which is mostly felt by civilians.

"Israel and its allies, particularly the United States, appear inclined to perpetuate this cycle, seeking to evade the implications of the October moment, which also poses a threat to the political standing of the current Israeli government and regional leverage for them," he said.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said on Monday his government is resigning.

President Mahmoud Abbas must decide whether he accepts Shtayyeh and his government's resignation.

"The next stage and its challenges require new governmental and political arrangements that take into account the new reality in the Gaza Strip," Shtayyeh said at a cabinet meeting.

Agencies contributed to this story.

US airman sets himself on fire outside Israeli embassy in Washington, DC

An active-duty member of the US Air Force was critically injured on Sunday after setting himself ablaze outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, while declaring that he "will no longer be complicit in genocide," a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

The man, whose name wasn't immediately released, walked up to the embassy shortly before 1 pm and began livestreaming on the video streaming platform Twitch, the source said. Law enforcement officials believe he then set his phone down and doused himself in accelerant and ignited the flames. At one point, the victim said he "will no longer be complicit in genocide", the person said. The video was later removed from the platform, but law enforcement officials have obtained and reviewed a copy.

The source was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Police did not immediately provide any additional details about the incident, which happened as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks to seek cabinet approval for a military operation in the southern Gazan city of Rafah while a temporary cease-fire deal is being negotiated. Israel's military offensive in Gaza, however, has drawn criticism, including genocide claims against the Palestinians.

In December, a person self-immolated outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta and used gasoline as an accelerant, according to Atlanta's fire authorities. A Palestinian flag was found at the scene, and the act was believed to be one of "extreme political protest".

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington said its officers had responded to the scene outside the Israeli embassy to assist US Secret Service officers and that its bomb squad had also been called to examine a suspicious vehicle. Police said no hazardous materials were found in the vehicle.

Agencies via Xinhua

GAZA -- The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 29,782, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday.

During the past 24 hours, the Israeli army killed 90 Palestinians and wounded 164 others, bringing the total death toll to 29,782 and injuries to 70,043, according to the statement.

The statement added that some victims remain trapped under debris and on roads, with Israeli forces hindering access for ambulances and civil defense teams.

In a separate statement on Monday, the Israeli army confirmed that five of its soldiers sustained serious injuries in the Gaza Strip, noting that have been evacuated to hospitals, and their families have been notified.

RAMALLAH - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh's government, reported the Palestinian News Agency Wafa.

Abbas has tasked Shtayyeh's government with temporarily continuing its duties until a new government is formed.

Earlier in the day, Shtayyeh submitted the resignation of his government to Abbas.

However, experts forecasted that it might take weeks before a replacement is named.

"The decision to resign comes in light of the developments in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Jerusalem," Shtayyeh said during a weekly cabinet meeting in Ramallah, noting that his government worked under challenging circumstances.

According to Al Jazeera, Shtayyeh's remarks coincide with mounting pressure from the United States on Abbas to reform the Palestinian Authority and initiate the establishment of a political framework capable of governing a future Palestinian state in the aftermath of the conflict.

"The next stage and its challenges require new governmental and political arrangements that take into account the emerging reality in the Gaza Strip, the national unity talks, and the urgent need for an inter-Palestinian consensus based on a national basis, broad participation, unity of ranks, and the extension of the Palestinian Authority's sovereignty over the entire land of Palestine," Shtayyeh added.

Israeli lawmakers backed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's stance against any "unilateral" recognition of a Palestinian state during the previous week, as international calls for the resumption of negotiations on Palestinian statehood have intensified.

"The Knesset came together in an overwhelming majority against the attempt to impose on us the establishment of a Palestinian state, which would not only fail to bring peace but would endanger the state of Israel," said Netanyahu.

Yet, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry slammed the vote, alleging that Israel is exploiting the occupation of Palestinian territories to deprive Palestinians of their rights.

"The ministry reaffirms that the State of Palestine's full membership in the United Nations and its recognition by other nations does not require permission from Netanyahu," it said in a statement.

During the past 24 hours, the Israeli army killed 90 Palestinians and wounded 164 others, bringing the death toll to 29,782 and injuries to 70,043 since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on Oct 7, according to a statement released by the Hamas-run Health Ministry on Monday.

The United Nations stands ready to continue supporting efforts aimed at overcoming the humanitarian, political, financial as well as security challenges facing the Palestinian people, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The UN chief takes note of Monday's announcement by Shtayyeh that he handed his government's resignation to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the spokesman said.

"A strengthened, empowered Palestinian government that can administer the whole of the occupied Palestinian territory is critical as part of a path to achieving the establishment of a fully independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign and viable Palestinian state, on the basis of the 1967 lines, of which Gaza is an integral part, which remains the only way to achieve a lasting peace," said Dujarric.

Shtayyeh extended his sincere thanks to Abbas for his support, the ministers for their work in exceptional circumstances, and the partners from the factions participating in the government.

His government was formed by a presidential decree in April 2019 and was entrusted with Palestinian reconciliation and preparing for elections.

RAMALLAH - Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said Monday he submitted government resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas.

CAIRO - Two rounds of talks will be held in Qatar and Egypt respectively to reach an agreement on a truce in the Gaza Strip that is currently under massive Israeli siege and bombardment, Egypt's Al-Qahera News reported on Sunday.

"The Doha and Cairo discussions will be held with the participation of specialists from Egypt, Qatar, the United States and Israel, in addition to a delegation from the Hamas movement, in continuation of what was discussed in the recent Paris meeting," Al-Qahera News quoted an unnamed Egyptian official as saying.

The talks in Doha and Cairo seek to reach an agreement on a truce in Gaza along with exchanging Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages, according to the report.

Israel has been waging a war on Gaza after Gaza-ruling Hamas launched a deadly surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 Israelis and taking more than 200 as hostages.

Since then, the ongoing Israeli military assaults have killed 29,692 Palestinians and injured 69,879 others, according to the latest data released by Gaza's Health Ministry on Sunday.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States mediated a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas that ended in late November 2023, which included a swap between Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages and more humanitarian aid delivery to Gaza.

GAZA -- At least 25 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza City on Sunday, medical sources and eyewitnesses said.

Medical sources told Xinhua that 15 people, including children, were killed and several others were wounded after warplanes hit a residential building in the Zaytoun neighborhood south of Gaza City.

According to local sources and eyewitnesses, the warplanes fired a missile at the three-story house without prior warning.

According to Israel's state-owned Kan TV news, the Israeli army has been conducting operations in the neighborhood since Feb. 20, targeting infrastructures belonging to the Hamas movement.

On the same day, 10 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the coastal road west of the Gaza City.

Local sources and eyewitnesses reported that Israeli forces launched artillery shells and conducted airstrikes targeting individuals waiting for aid trucks, killing 10 of them and injuring others.

GAZA -- The Israeli army killed 86 Palestinians and wounded 131 others in the Gaza Strip during the past 24 hours, raising the total death toll in the enclave to 29,692 and injuries to 69,879 since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on Oct 7, 2023, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement Sunday.

It noted that many victims remain under the rubble due to heavy bombardment and a lack of civil defense and ambulance crews.

A Palestinian was killed and four others were injured in an Israeli raid on a house in the Al-Shaaf area, east of Gaza City, Palestinian medical sources told Xinhua.

The sources added that artillery shelling on the western parts of Khan Younis city and the Al-Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City killed a number of Palestinians and injured dozens of others.

In the northern town of Beit Lahia, three Palestinians were killed and 10 others injured after the Israeli army attacked a residential house, with some people remaining under the rubble, according to Palestinian security sources.

The security sources said violent clashes between armed Palestinian factions and Israeli forces broke out in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in the south of Gaza City, and explosions were heard in the area.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, announced in separate statements that their members "engaged in armed clashes with the Israeli forces east of the neighborhood and targeted their vehicles with shells and caused deaths and injuries among their ranks."

For its part, the Israeli army announced on Sunday two soldiers were killed in a battle in the southern Gaza Strip.

The army added that an officer and two other soldiers were seriously injured during a battle in the southern Gaza Strip, and they were taken to hospitals for treatment.

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 240 were taken hostage.

CAIRO - Egypt started building another camp for internally displaced people in Khan Younis city south of the besieged Palestinian Gaza Strip, the country's Al-Qahera News TV channel reported on Saturday.

The new camp "will have a capacity of 400 tents and can accommodate about 4,000 people, and it will be equipped with electricity, water, and restrooms," Al-Qahera News quoted an unnamed source as saying, noting the camp will be completed by the end of this week.

Egypt established a similar camp for displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis in December 2023.

Following the completion of the second camp, a field hospital and two humanitarian aid distribution centers will be established in Gaza's city of Rafah and another camp in Deir al-Balah, the report added.

Gaza has been under massive Israeli besiege and bombardment since Gaza-ruling Hamas launched a deadly surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The ongoing Israeli escalation since then has killed 29,606 Palestinians and wounded 69,737 others, according to data released by Gaza's health ministry on Saturday.

The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza has been a major lifeline to provide the enclave with relief supplies, donated by Egypt and other countries as well as local and international organizations.