Israeli attacks across Gaza threaten ceasefire talks: Hamas

GAZA - Hamas has made urgent contacts with mediators, warning that the Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip would return the ceasefire negotiating process to point zero, the movement said on Monday.

Considering the ongoing threats by the Israeli army to large neighborhoods of Gaza City, and the killings and displacement it is carrying out, the head of Hamas's political bureau Ismail Haniyeh has made urgent contacts with mediators, Hamas said in a statement.

Haniyeh warned of the repercussions of Israel's operations in Gaza City, Rafah and other areas across the Strip, noting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli army would bear full responsibility for the collapse of the negotiation path, the statement added.

On Sunday and Monday, the Israeli military instructed tens of thousands of people residing in 19 blocs in Gaza City to immediately evacuate, according to a report published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Monday.

As of Monday, Al Ahli Baptist Hospital and the Patients Friends Association Hospital were evacuated, in fear of intensified military activities that would render them inaccessible or non-functional, and critical patients were transferred to the Indonesian and Kamal Adwan Hospitals in North Gaza governorate, it added.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Monday that following intelligence indicating the presence of Hamas and Islamic Jihad infrastructure, operatives, weapons, and investigation and detention rooms in Gaza City, the army began an operation in the area overnight.

"With the start of the operation, the IDF called on and warned civilians about the operational activity in the area, and a defined route will be opened to facilitate the evacuation of uninvolved civilians from the area," it added.

Hamas signaled last week that it had dropped a key demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before the group would sign an agreement, raising hopes for progress in the internationally brokered negotiations, according to media reports.

Israel launched 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.

During the past 24 hours, the Israeli military killed 40 people and wounded 75 others, bringing the total death toll to 38,193 and injuries to 87,903 since the Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Monday.