“Gaza Strikes Escalate Amid Netanyahu’s Militant Pressure Pledge”, The situation in Gaza on July 18 was marked by mourning as Palestinians grieved the loss of relatives killed in Israeli airstrikes overnight. Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated his commitment to escalating pressure on militants, despite increasing calls for him to negotiate a hostage release deal.
The region remained tense amid these developments, with humanitarian concerns and international calls for restraint heightening the complexity of the situation.
AFPTV footage depicted mourners gathered at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah city, where several bodies wrapped in white shrouds lay on the ground. Heart-wrenching scenes showed a man tenderly holding the covered body of a child, highlighting the tragic toll of the recent violence in Gaza.
Rescuers confirmed several people had been killed in separate Israeli strikes in central Gaza.
Anti-government demonstrators, sometimes marching by the tens of thousands and separate rallies by families and other supporters of hostages held by Hamas, have stepped up their actions demanding the government reach a deal to free the captives.
“We feel this is a critical moment,” Osnat Sharabi Matalon, two of whose brothers were taken hostage, said at a protest on Wednesday in Tel Aviv.
