21 December 2023 , 18:16
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Israeli troops pressing deeper into Gaza say they have found at least 200 miles of tunnels linking Hamas commanders’ homes.
The vast tunnel network is 260ft under Gaza City, it was reported.
At least another 50 people were killed and more than 100 injured when Israel bombarded the Jabaliya refugee camp near Gaza City. With casualties in Rafah and elsewhere, the Palestinian death toll now thought to be well past 20,000.
US sources say negotiations for a temporary peace are ongoing but the humanitarian situation is urgent as Gaza no longer has functioning health centres, according to the UN. Its fresh plans to deliver aid is expected today.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that a collapse of humanitarian support would break down public order, increasing pressure for mass displacement into Egypt. This week Israel’s foreign minister Eli Cohen went to Cyprus to discuss a maritime corridor for aid via the island.
Six-year-old dies after driver ploughs into people waiting at bus stop
Israel says more than 130 of its soldiers have died in its ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 and taking around 240 hostages.
Destroyed buildings after Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza (Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images)The IDF is also fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon, on its northern border. Israeli shelling of Maroun El-Ras in Lebanon yesterday killed a woman in her 80s and wounded her husband.
The Israeli military said it attacked Hezbollah militant positions. More than 110 Hezbollah fighters and at least 16 civilians have been killed on the Lebanese side, while at least nine soldiers and five civilians have been killed on the Israeli side.