ISRAELI STRIKES ACROSS Gaza killed dozens of people overnight, with battles raging today as Hamas reviews a new proposal for a pause in fighting in exchange for releasing hostages.

Gaza’s health ministry said at least 127 people were killed in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours, including 90 overnight. 

The Hamas government’s media office said a preschool where families were sheltering was hit in the southern border city of Rafah, where many refugees have fled from more northern parts of Gaza.

The nearby southern city of Khan Younis is also being targeted by Israel in air and naval strikes.

The Israeli army said today that its troops raided “a compound used by the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis brigade”, seizing weapons and killing Hamas militants.

Wednesday will mark the fifth month of fighting since Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October. Since then, the death toll from Israel’s assault on Gaza has reached 27,365, according to the health ministry.

The AFP news agency is reporting that experts and rights groups have said Israeli forces have destroyed buildings near the border in a bit to create a ‘buffer zone’ inside Gaza, though Israel has not confirmed the plan publicly.

Nadia Hardman, an expert on refugees at Human Rights Watch, said the actions “may amount to a war crime” and that “we are seeing mounting evidence that Israel appears to be rendering large parts of Gaza unlivable”. 

President Michael D. Higgins issues a statement yesterday warning that if Israel continues to strike areas densely population with refugees, it will “leave any respect for humanitarian law in tatters”.

The president said that “what is at stake now, given the high proportion of loss of life of non-combatants, and particularly of women and children, is the potential emptying out of the entire space and discourse of human rights and international humanitarian law”. 

Hostage exchange talks

International mediators are trying to get both sides to sign up to a deal that was put together in a meeting in Paris with officials from US, Israel, Egypt and Qatar.

It is understood that the proposal involves an initial six-week pause to allow more aid to be delivered into Gaza and a phased release of Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Hamas is still considering the deal.

There is mounting criticism among Israelis of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and protests against the government over its failure to strike a deal to get hostages out of Gaza.

One protester in Tel Aviv yesterday evening called Michal Hadas said she feared Israel’s leaders are dragging out the conflict for political reasons “because as long as the war continues, there will be no election”.

Additional reporting by AFP