Israel attacks kill at least 17 in Gaza as ceasefire plan hangs in balance

Israel’s relentless destruction of Gaza and targeting of the Palestinian civilian population show no sign of abating, with at least 17 killed in attacks since dawn, as a United States ceasefire plan hangs in the balance to end the genocidal two-year war.

Two missiles struck al-Falah School on Wednesday, which had been converted into a shelter for hundreds of displaced people in the Zeitoun neighbourhood east of Gaza City, where Israel has expanded its ground invasion alongside heavy aerial bombardment. As Palestinian Civil Defence crews rushed to the scene, another attack critically injured many of them.

Medical sources at al-Ahli Arab Hospital told Al Jazeera that six people were killed and others were injured in the attack.

Seven others were killed and many injured in another Israeli attack on a house in the Derj neighbourhood east of Gaza City.

The continuous bombardment of Gaza City has razed the territory’s largest urban centre, killing several people daily, destroying numerous residential buildings and schools, and forcing tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee to an unknown fate to the south, often targeted on the way.

Meanwhile, 11 unidentified bodies were buried in a mass grave inside al-Shifa Hospital courtyard, west of Gaza City. The medical complex, the largest in the besieged enclave, has been under constant Israeli fire in recent days.

Kidney dialysis patients at al-Shifa are in increasing peril as bombing and gunfire continue all around.

Emergency and ambulance sources reported that three citizens were killed in air raids targeting two houses in the Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip, according to the Wafa news agency.

Trump’s ‘sad end’ threat

United States President Donald Trump has given Hamas “three or four days” to respond to his Gaza ceasefire proposal, telling reporters that Israeli and Arab leaders had already accepted the plan.

“Hamas is either going to be doing it or not, and if it’s not, it’s going to be a very sad end,” Trump said at the White House on Tuesday.

Trump’s comments came a day after the White House released a 20-point document that calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the exchange of Israeli captives held by Hamas for Palestinians in Israeli prisons and a staged Israeli withdrawal from the Strip.

Under the proposal, Hamas would be required to disarm, and the US would work with Arab and international partners to install a “temporary international stabilization force”.

The plan also states that Hamas would play no role in governing Gaza. Its members would be offered amnesty if they committed to “peaceful coexistence”, while those wishing to leave the enclave would be granted safe passage abroad.

As Israel’s assault on Gaza continues, Hamas’s negotiating team has been studying Trump’s plan, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Tuesday.

The renewed push to end Israel’s two-year war on Gaza comes as the Palestinian death toll has risen above 66,000 and the coastal enclave endures a horrifying humanitarian crisis.