• Qatar says Israel did not abide by the truce
• NGOs say aid to Gaza Strip facing total collapse

GAZA CITY/ MOSCOW: Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Thursday that a rash of Israeli air strikes killed at least 40 people, most of them in encampments for displaced civilians, as Israel pressed its offensive in the Palestinian territory.

The Israeli military said it was looking into reports of the strikes, which came as Hamas officials said that internal deliberations on the latest Israeli truce offer were nearly complete. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said two Israeli missiles hit several tents in the Al-Mawasi area of the southern city of Khan Yunis, resulting in at least 16 deaths, “most of them women and children, and 23 others were wounded”.

After Israel declared Al-Mawasi a safe zone in Dec 2023, tens of thousands of Palestinians flocked there seeking refuge from bombardment, but the area has since been hit by repeated Israeli strikes. Survivors described a large explosion at the densely packed encampment zone that set multiple tents ablaze.

“We were sitting peacefully in the tent, under God’s protection, when we suddenly saw something red glowing — and then the tent exploded, and the surrounding tents caught fire,” Israa Abu al-Rus said.

“This is supposed to be a safe area in Al-Mawasi,” Abu al-Rus said. “We fled the tent towards the sea and saw the tents burning.” Bassal said that Israeli strikes on two other encampments of displaced Gazans killed a further nine people — seven in the northern town of Beit Lahia, and a father and son near Al-Mawasi.

Separately, the civil defence reported two more attacks on displaced people in Jabalia — one that killed at least seven members of the Asaliya family, and another that killed six people at a school being used as a shelter — as well as Israeli shelling in Gaza City that killed two.

‘Israel did not abide’

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said on Thursday that Israel had failed to respect January’s ceasefire agreement in Gaza, as he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

“As you know, we reached an agreement months ago, but unfortunately Israel did not abide by this agreement,” said the ruler of Qatar, a key mediator of the deal.

A truce in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Qatar with Egypt and the United States, came into force on Jan 19, largely halting more than 15 months of fighting triggered by Hamas’s Oct 7, 2023 raid. The initial phase of the truce ended in early March.

Putin recognised Qatar’s “serious efforts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict” and called deaths in the conflict “a tragedy”. “A long-term settlement can only be achieved on the basis of the UN resolution and first of all connected to the establishment of two states,” he added.

Total aid collapse

The humanitarian aid system in Gaza is “facing total collapse” because of Israel’s blockade on aid supplies since March 2, the heads of 12 major aid organisations warned on Thursday, urging Israel to let them “do our jobs”.

Israel has vowed to maintain its blockage on humanitarian aid to the conflict-stricken territory, saying it is the only way to force Hamas to release the 58 prisoners still held there.

“Every single person in Gaza is relying on humanitarian aid to survive,” the chief executives of 12 NGOs, including Oxfam and Save the Children, wrote in a joint statement.

“That lifeline has been completely cut off since a blockade on all aid supplies was imposed by Israeli authorities on March 2,” they said, adding that “This is one of the worst humanitarian failures of our generation.” A survey of 43 international and Palestinian NGOs working in Gaza found that almost all have suspended or drastically cut services since a ceasefire ended in March.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2025