CAIRO/DOHA: Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 65 Palestinians overnight, including in a school sheltering displaced families, medics said, as Israeli tanks advanced in areas of Khan Younis in the south of the enclave.

Meanwhile, in a joint press conference with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani expressed a resolve to continue mediation efforts to end the war in Gaza amid a heightening of regional tensions.

Qatar has been one of the mediators working on a ceasefire deal in Gaza, although talks have stalled in recent days.

The health ministry in Gaza said on Wednesday that at least 41,689 people have been killed by Israeli aggression in nearly a year.

Qatar vows to continue ceasefire efforts as Iranian president visits Doha

Israeli tanks carried out raids on several areas in eastern and central Khan Younis before partially retreating, leaving at least 40 people killed and dozens wounded.

Meanwhile in Gaza City, at least 22 Palestinians were killed in two airstrikes. One Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City killed 17 people, while another hit the Al-Amal Orphan Society, which also houses displaced persons, killing at least five others, the medics said.

Later on Wednesday, an Israeli strike on the Nuseirat Girls School, where displaced Palestinian families were sheltering, killed three people and wounded 15.

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The escalation came after Iran launched a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for Israel’s campaign against Lebanon, and Israel vowed a “painful response”.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, locked in nearly a year of war with Israel, celebrated as they watched dozens of rockets en route to Israel. Some of those rockets fell in the Palestinian enclave after being intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defences, but caused no human losses, witnesses said.

Doha diplomacy

Starting his first trip to Qatar as president, Pezeshkian said his country wanted “security and peace”, but Israel had triggered an escalation by assassinating Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

“Europeans and the US said if we do not act, there will be a peace in Gaza in one week. We waited for them to have peace but they increased their killing,” he said.

Pezeshkian told state television that the first goal in Doha was to discuss bilateral ties and sign agreements with the Qatari government. He will also attend a summit of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue.

“The second goal is to discuss how Asian countries can prevent Israeli crimes in the region…and prevent enemies from causing uproar in the Middle East,” Pezeshkian said.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2024