Fighting rages as Gazans voice hope over truce calls
· RTE.ieIsraeli forces battled Hamas-led militants in northern and southern Gaza, and Palestinian health officials said Israeli military strikes across the enclave had killed at least 17 Palestinians overnight.
Medics said the deaths resulted from separate Israeli airstrikes in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza and in Khan Younis and Rafah in the south.
The armed wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said fighters had attacked Israeli forces in central Gaza with several mortar bombs. Hamas said its fighters also fired mortar bombs against Israeli forces in Khan Younis.
Residents said Israeli forces operating in Rafah and Zeitoun, a suburb of Gaza City, had blown up several homes in both areas as the military continued its operations there.
Gaza health authorities list more than 41,400 Palestinians confirmed killed in the assault, which Israel launched after Hamas fighters attacked Israeli towns on 7 October last year, killing 1,200 people and capturing around 250 hostages.
War in Gaza has not let up, even as Israel's battle against Hezbollah in Lebanon has escalated.
Many months of diplomatic efforts to reach a Gaza ceasefire have yielded little progress, with Israel refusing any deal to halt the fighting without the total defeat of Hamas.
Many Palestinians voiced hope that a deal to end the war in Lebanon would also bring an end to the fighting in the Palestinian territory.
"Since 8 October, Hassan Nasrallah conditioned ending the strikes by Hezbollah on ending the Israeli crimes and war on Gaza. This is a big gate of hope that peace may prevail in Lebanon and Gaza," said Tamer Al-Burai, a Palestinian businessman from Gaza City, who is currently displaced in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
"We stand in solidarity with the people of Lebanon and we don't wish that anyone be harmed as Gaza was," Mr Burai told Reuters via a chat app.
Hassan Nasrallah is the leader of Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Some expressed concern that a deal in Lebanon alone could free Israel's hands further in Gaza, but Abed Abu Mustafa, a resident of Gaza City, said he expected Nasrallah to continue supporting the Palestinian terriroty.
"We are confident that Nasrallah wouldn't agree to a deal that doesn't include Gaza, he spoke several times about the unity of the axes of resistance," Mr Mustafa said.
The 'Axis of Resistance' refers to groups including Hezbollah that are backed by Iran and have been waging attacks on Israel since war erupted between Hamas and Israel last year.