46 more Palestinians martyred in attack on Jabalia camp as Israel bombs Gaza targets

GAZA, Palestine (AFP) - The Israeli army said Thursday it bombed scores of targets in the Gaza Strip as diplomats pressed on with efforts to halt the fighting that Hamas says has martyred 20,000 people in the Palestinian territory.

United Nations relief chief Martin Griffiths called the surging death toll a 'tragic and shameful milestone' as the UN Security Council was to again discuss a draft resolution calling for a pause in the bloodiest ever Gaza war.

The army said its aircraft had struck another 230 targets in besieged Gaza over the past day, including a rocket launch site and a compound in the southern city of Khan Yunis, while ground forces had found weapons inside a school in Jabalia near Gaza City.

The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing around 1,140 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

The Hamas government's media office said Wednesday at least 20,000 people had been martyred in the Palestinian territory, with 8,000 children and 6,200 women among the dead. In the far-southern city of Rafah, a centre for many internally displaced Palestinians, fireballs and smoke rose after explosions on Wednesday. "I wish for a complete ceasefire, and to put an end to the series of deaths and suffering," said one resident, Kassem Shurrab, 25. "It's been more than 75 days."

Truce talks

Hopes that Israel and Hamas could be inching towards another truce and hostage release deal have risen this week as the head of the Palestinian militant group visited Egypt and talks were held in Europe.

Qatar-based Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh visited Egypt for talks with the country's intelligence chief Abbas Kamel. However, the stated positions of Israel and Hamas remain far apart. A Hamas official told AFP that "a total ceasefire and a retreat of the Israeli occupation army from the Gaza Strip are a precondition for any serious negotiation" on a hostage-prisoner swap.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there could be no ceasefire in Gaza before the "elimination" of Hamas. And US President Joe Biden said of a fresh hostage release deal: "There's no expectation at this point. But we are pushing it."

Qatar, backed by Egypt and the United States, last month helped broker a first week-long truce that saw 80 Israeli hostages freed in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners. One former hostage, Ofir Engel, 18, returned to Kibbutz Be'eri alongside families of other captives and gathered at the burnt remains of their former homes.