Gaza death toll rises to 68 on Sunday

Israel hostages forum says Netanyahu stands in way of ending Gaza war

GAZA: At least 48 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip since dawn on Sunday.

The death includes 32 people who were killed in intensified Israeli bombardment of Gaza City.

The health ministry in Gaza said 346 people have been wounded over the past 48 hours.

Meanwhile, two more Palestinians have died of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the territory’s health ministry said on Sunday, raising deaths from such causes to at least 422 people, including 145 children.

Over 64,800 have been killed and around 165,000 wounded since Israel’s war on Gaza began, according to the health ministry.

Meanwhile, for the main Israeli group campaigning for the release of hostages held in Gaza, though, Netanyahu’s decision to launch an attack on Hamas’s leadership and negotiating team showed that it was the prime minister himself who was proving the greatest obstacle to freeing the captives.

“The targeted operation in Qatar proved beyond any doubt that there is one obstacle to returning the … hostages and ending the war: Prime Minister Netanyahu. Every time a deal approaches, Netanyahu sabotages it,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement after the premier accused Hamas leaders of derailing efforts to end the war.

Hamas has described the Doha attack as an attempt by Israel to derail the ceasefire negotiations, and said it would not change the group’s terms for ending the war in Gaza.

Israel has demanded Hamas free all remaining hostages held in Gaza and disarm. Hamas says it will not free all hostages without an agreement that would end the war, and will not give up its weapons until Palestinians have an independent state.

Meanwhile,  US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat, Marco Rubio headed to Israel on Saturday, amid tensions with fellow US allies in the Middle East over Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar and expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Speaking to reporters before departure, Rubio reiterated that the US and President Donald Trump were not happy about the strikes.

Rubio said the US relationship with Israel would not be affected, but that he would discuss with the Israelis how the strike would affect Trump’s desire to secure the return of all the hostages held by Hamas, get rid of the militants and end the Gaza war.

“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them. We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” he said.

“There are still 48 hostages that deserve to be released immediately, all at once. And there is still the hard work ahead once this ends, of rebuilding Gaza in a way that provides people the quality of life that they all want.” Monitoring Desk