Israel pauses military activity along southern Gaza road to facilitate aid
Tel Aviv, June 16, 2024. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The Israeli military said on Sunday it would hold daily tactical pauses in military activity along a main road in southern Gaza to allow more aid to flow into the enclave, where international aid organisations have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis.
A Palestinian family eats breakfast as they shelter at a UNRWA school in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 16, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
Fighting in the city of Rafah, where Israel is targeting the remaining brigades of the militant Islamist Hamas movement, would continue, the military said.
It said military activity would be paused from 0500 GMT until 1600 GMT daily until further notice along the road that leads from the Kerem Shalom Crossing to the Salah al-Din Road and then northwards.
Despite growing international pressure for a ceasefire, an agreement to halt the fighting still appears distant, more than eight months since the start of the war in the Palestinian enclave.
Friends and family mourn Israeli soldier, Captain Wassem Mahmoud from Israel's Druze minority who was killed amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, at his funeral in Beit Jann, northern Israel, June 16, 2024. REUTERS/Rami Shlush
Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon opened a second front against Israel shortly after Hamas' Oct. 7 assault sparked the war in Gaza. Fighting across the Israel-Lebanon border is now threatening to spiral into a wider conflict. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced on both sides of the border.
In a further sign that fighting in Gaza could drag on, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government said on Sunday it was extending until Aug. 15 the period it would fund hotels and guest houses for residents evacuated from southern Israeli border towns.
People mourn Israeli soldier Sergeant Elyahu Moshe Zimbalist, who was killed amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, during his funeral at Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, June 16, 2024. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Hamas led a rampage in southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
A man is detained during a demonstration against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and a call for the release of hostages in Gaza, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 16, 2024. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
At least 37,296 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's military campaign, according to the Gaza health ministry.
(Reporting by James Mackenzie and Ari RabinovitchEditing by William Mallard and Frances Kerry)