DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel launched “extensive” new ground operations in the Gaza Strip while airstrikes in its new offensive killed at least 103 people, including dozens of children, overnight and into Sunday, hospitals and medics said. The strikes forced northern Gaza’s main hospital to close.
Israel began the offensive — the largest since it shattered a ceasefire in March — on Saturday with the aim of seizing territory and displacing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
Israel is pressuring Hamas to agree to a temporary ceasefire, one that would free hostages from Gaza but wouldn’t necessarily end the war. Hamas says it wants a full withdrawal of Israeli forces and a path to ending the war as part of any deal.
“When the Jews want a truce, Hamas refuses, and when Hamas wants a truce, the Jews refuse it. Both sides agree to exterminate the Palestinian people,” said Jabaliya resident Abu Mohammad Yassin, who was among those fleeing the new offensive on foot or in donkey carts. “For God’s sake, have mercy on us. We are tired of displacement.”
Israel’s military, which recently called up tens of thousands of reservists, said the ground operations are throughout the north and south of the Palestinian territory. It wasn’t immediately clear whether any areas were designated as safe.
Before the announcement, airstrikes killed more than 48 people — including 18 children and 13 women — in and around the southern city of Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital, which said it struggled to count the dead because of the condition of bodies.
In northern Gaza, a strike on a home in Jabaliya killed nine members of a family, according to the Gaza Health Ministry’s emergency services. Another strike on a residence there killed 10, including seven children and a woman, according to the civil defense, which operates under the Hamas-run government.
Israel’s military had no immediate comment. Its statement announcing the ground operations said preliminary strikes over the past week killed dozens of militants and struck more than 670 targets. Israel blames civilian casualties on Hamas because the militant group operates from civilian areas.
Shortly afterward, Israel’s military said that it intercepted a projectile from central Gaza and another fell in an open area, with no injuries reported.
Israel had said it would wait until the end of U.S. President Trump’s visit to the Middle East before launching its offensive, saying it was giving a chance for efforts at a new deal. Trump didn’t visit Israel on his trip, which ended Friday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said his negotiating team in Qatar was “working to realize every chance for a deal,” including one that would bring an end to fighting in exchange for the release of all remaining 58 hostages, Hamas’ exile from Gaza and the disarmament of the Palestinian territory. Hamas has refused to leave Gaza or disarm.
Israel ended the previous eight-week ceasefire in March. Gaza’s Health Ministry has said almost 3,000 people have been killed since then.
Anger over the renewed Israeli offensive touched off a march of tens of thousands of red-clad protesters in the Dutch capital of The Hague on Sunday, and frustration is growing in Israel, too. A few Israelis are refusing to show up for military service and other Israelis have been displaying photos of children killed in Gaza.
