Sawt Falasteen - Fleeing civilians fill Gaza roads as Israel keeps up strikes

The war death toll updated daily by the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory showed an increase of 970 in the space of 48 hours, though AFP could not confirm how many of them were recorded as casualties from the strikes.

Families with young children fled northern Gaza for areas further south, fearing for their lives after Israel urged civilians to leave areas it described as "combat zones".

A Hamas official said the group was open to talks on getting the ceasefire back on track but rejected Israeli demands to renegotiate the three-stage deal agreed with Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators.

"Hamas has not closed the door on negotiations but we insist there is no need for new agreements," Taher al-Nunu told AFP.

"We have no conditions, but we demand that the occupation be compelled to immediately halt its aggression and war of extermination, and begin the second phase of negotiations."

Negotiations have stalled over how to proceed with a ceasefire whose first phase expired in early March, with Israel and Hamas disagreeing on whether to move to a new phase intended to bring the war to an end.

Israel and the United States have sought to change the terms of the deal by extending stage one.

That would delay the start of phase two, which was meant to establish a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and was swiftly rejected by Hamas, which demanded full implementation of the original deal.

"There is no need for new agreements in light of the existing agreement signed by all parties," Nunu said.

- 'Only the beginning' -

Israel and the United States have portrayed Hamas's rejection of an extended stage one as a refusal to release more Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Netanyahu's office said he ordered the renewed strikes on Gaza after "Hamas's repeated refusal to release our hostages".

In a televised address late Tuesday, the premier said: "Hamas has already felt the strength of our arm in the past 24 hours. And I want to promise you –- and them –- this is only the beginning."

The White House said Israel consulted US President Donald Trump's administration before launching the strikes.

The intense Israeli bombardment sent a stream of new casualties to the few hospitals still functioning in Gaza and triggered fears of a return to full-blown war after two months of relative calm.

Two people, including a United Nations employee, were killed when a UN building in Deir el-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, was hit, according to a UN source.

One of those killed was employed by the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), the source told AFP.

According to a UN statement, "an explosive ordnance was dropped or fired at the infrastructure and detonated inside the building.

"We don't know at this stage what type it was (airdrop weapons, artillery, rocket)," the statement said.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory blamed Israel, while the Israeli military denied it had struck the UN compound in Deir el-Balah.

Two of them appeared to have leg injuries and a third had bandages on both arms and abdomen, with traces of blood on his chest.

Thousands of Israelis massed in Jerusalem on Wednesday, accusing Netanyahu of resuming strikes on Gaza without regard for the safety of the remaining hostages.

"Many people here in Israel are so frustrated with the operation that began yesterday because it's obvious it will not... make Hamas more flexible and bring the release of hostages," said Palestinian affairs expert Michael Milshtein of Tel Aviv University's Moshe Dayan Center.

- 'Shattering' hopes -

Governments in the Middle East, Europe and beyond called for the renewed hostilities to end.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Israel's raids on Gaza "are shattering the tangible hopes of so many Israelis and Palestinians of an end to suffering on all sides".

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she told her Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar that the new strikes on Gaza were "unacceptable".

Both Egypt and Qatar, which brokered the Gaza ceasefire alongside the United States, condemned Israel's resort to military action.

Israel's resumption of military operations in Gaza, after it already halted all humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza this month, drew an immediate political dividend for Netanyahu.

The far-right Otzma Yehudit party, which quit his ruling coalition in January in protest at the Gaza ceasefire, rejoined its ranks with its firebrand leader Itamar Ben Gvir again becoming national security minister.

The war began with Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in 1,218 deaths, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliation in Gaza has killed at least 49,547 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the territory's health ministry.

Of the 251 hostages seized during the attack, 58 are still in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

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N.AbuHussein--SF-PST