Israel’s tanks, boats, and jets struck areas of Gaza on Tuesday, offering Palestinians no relief on the anniversary of the Hamas attack that sparked two years of war, highlighting the difficulties in discussions over Donald Trump‘s proposed plan to end the conflict.
With no ceasefire in place, Israel pressed on with its offensive, residents said, after Hamas and Israel began indirect negotiations on Monday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on sensitive issues such as Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and Hamas’ disarmament.
The talks on the U.S. president’s plan are widely seen as the most promising yet for ending a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and devastated Gaza since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 people.
Militant Groups Mark Anniversary With Statement
Residents in Khan Younis in southern Gaza and Gaza City in the north reported heavy bombing from tanks and planes in the early hours on Tuesday, witnesses said. Israeli forces pounded several districts from the air, sea and ground, they said.
Gaza militants fired rockets across the border early on Tuesday, setting off air raid sirens at Israeli kibbutz Netiv Haasara, and Israeli troops continued to tackle gunmen inside the enclave, the Israeli military said.
Marking the anniversary of the Hamas attack, an umbrella of Palestinian factions, including Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and smaller militant groups, vowed “the choice of resistance by all means is the sole and only way to confront the Zionist enemy.”
“No one has the right to cede the weapons of the Palestinian people. This legitimate weapon… will be passed through the Palestinian generations until their land and sacred sites are liberated,” said the statement, issued in the name of “Factions of the Palestinian Resistance”.
Israelis marking the anniversary of the Hamas attack – in which 251 people were taken to Gaza as hostages – gathered at some of the worst-hit sites of that day, including the Nova music festival where 364 people were shot, bludgeoned or burned to death, and at Tel Aviv’s so-called Hostages Square.
All places are reminders of the bloodiest single day for Jews since the Holocaust.
“It’s like an open wound, the hostages, I can’t believe it’s been two years and they are still not home,” said Hilda Weisthal, 43. “I really hope that all the leaders will make a push and that this war will end.”
Two Years ‘Living In Fear’
In Gaza, Mohammed Dib, 49, voiced similar hopes of an end to the conflict.
“It’s been two years that we have been living in fear, horror, displacement and destruction,” he said.
Since the war began, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, with nearly a third of those under 18, according to .
The Gaza Health Ministry tally does not distinguish between civilians and militants. Israel has said at least 20,000 were militants.
Israel says its offensive is aimed against Hamas and that it tries to avoid killing civilians, but that the group hides among the population, an assertion that Hamas denies.
A U.N. commission of inquiry last month assessed that Israel had committed in Gaza. Israel called the finding biased and “scandalous”.
Israel responded to the 2023 attack by launching its offensive in Gaza, while also assassinating the group’s leaders outside the Strip and other Iranian-backed groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and pounding Yemen’s Houthis.
It killed Iran’s top military commanders and attacked Iranian nuclear facilities during a 12-day war joined by the United States.
The offensive in Gaza has largely flattened the enclave and left Israel increasingly isolated on the world stage. Some Western leaders have recognised Palestinian statehood, and pro-Palestinian protests have erupted around the world.
Trump Seeks Major Foreign Policy Triumph
Israel and Hamas have endorsed the overall principles behind Trump’s plan, under which fighting would cease, hostages would go free, and aid would pour into Gaza.
It also has backing from Arab and Western states. Trump has called for negotiations to take place swiftly towards a final deal.
Even if a deal is clinched during talks in Egypt, questions will linger over who will rule Gaza and rebuild it. Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have ruled out any role for Hamas.
A Hamas source familiar with the talks said the group had requested a clear timeline of an Israeli pullout and guarantees that the war will end.
An official briefed on the negotiations said he expected the round of talks that started on Monday would require at least a few days.
An official involved in ceasefire planning and a Palestinian source said Trump’s 72-hour deadline for the hostages’ return could be unachievable for dead hostages. Their remains may need to be located and recovered from scattered sites.
Israel’s chief negotiator, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, was expected to join the Israeli delegation later this week, pending developments in the negotiations, three Israeli officials said.
The Hamas delegation is led by its exiled Gaza leader, Khalil Al-Hayya, who survived an Israeli airstrike in the Qatari capital a month ago.
The U.S. has sent special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, the White House said.
(With inputs from Reuters)
