Israeli air strikes hit about 40 targets across the Gaza Strip over the past day, the military said yesterday, hours after Hamas rejected an Israeli ceasefire offer that it said fell short of its demand to agree a full end to the war.
Palestinian health authorities said that at least 43 people were killed in strikes yesterday, adding to more than 1,600 deaths since Israel resumed air strikes in March.
Last month the Israeli military broke off a two-month truce that had largely halted fighting in Gaza and has since pushed in from the north and south, seizing almost a third of the enclave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he would make a special statement this evening but gave no detail on what it would be about.
The military said troops were operating in the Shabura and Tel Al Sultan areas near the southern city of Rafah, as well as in northern Gaza, where it has taken control of large areas east of Gaza City.
Egyptian mediators have been trying to revive the January ceasefire deal that broke down when Israel resumed air strikes and sent ground troops back into Gaza, but there has been little sign of progress.
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