Israel launched new strikes on the Gaza Strip today as Israeli leaders face mounting pressure to negotiate and secure the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas.

Relatives of the hostages intensified their appeals to the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push him to strike a deal to free the hostages held by Hamas, as the Israeli military admitted it “accidentally” killed three of the hostages in the Palestinian enclave.

The three were among about 250 hostages taken by Hamas in its unprecedented October 7 attack on Israeli soil that killed 1,140 people, according to the latest figures released by Israeli authorities. .

At least 12 people were killed today in Israeli strikes in the city of Deir al-Balakh, in the central part of Gaza, the Health Ministry of Hamas announced. Eyewitnesses also reported Israeli shelling in the southern town of Bani Suheila.

A total of around 18,800 people, of whom around 70% are women, children and teenagers, have been killed, according to Hamas, which is in power in Gaza, since the outbreak of war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement, which has designated a terrorist organization by the US, the EU and Israel.

The relatives of the hostages held a protest rally yesterday in Tel Aviv.

“Our demand is not a fight (against the government). It’s a call anyone would make if it were their father. Think about us and make a (negotiation) plan now,” she said Noam Perry, the daughter of Haim Perry’s hostage during this demonstration.

More than 100 Israeli and foreign Hamas hostages were freed in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners during a week-long humanitarian ceasefire last month negotiated by Qatar.

The Israeli prime minister said yesterday that “military pressure is necessary both to return the hostages and to ensure victory over our enemies.”

However, Netanyahu also appeared to confirm ongoing diplomatic efforts in Qatar to secure the release of other hostages. “We have serious criticisms of Qatar, which I suppose you will hear about in due course, but for now we are trying to complete the recovery of our hostages,” he stressed.

The Cataract confirmed yesterday that “diplomatic (its) efforts to renew the humanitarian pause” in hostilities are underway.

However Hamas said he was “opposed to any negotiation on the exchange of prisoners until the attack on our people is completely stopped,” according to a message he posted on the Telegram app.

THE US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced last night that he would travel to Israel, Bahrain and Qatar, underscoring “Washington’s commitment to strengthening regional security and stability”.

In recent days, the US administration has been pushing Israeli authorities to move into a new phase of lower intensity in their operation in Gaza in order to better protect civilians.

The head of Israeli intelligence David Barnea moreover, he met the prime minister of Qatar on Friday Mohammed Ben Abdelrahman al Thani, who had helped negotiate the previous truce, according to the news website Axios.

At the same time, the foreign minister of France Catherine Colonna expected today in Israel and the West Bank and then in Lebanon on Monday.

Its ministry yesterday condemned an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip that caused the death of its official and demanded that “a lot of light be shed” on the case.

In addition to the official meetings she will hold, France’s foreign minister is expected to meet families of French hostages and call for a “new, immediate and sustainable humanitarian ceasefire” leading to a lasting ceasefire to ensure the release of all hostages and to enable the transfer of humanitarian aid to the population of Gaza, according to a statement from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

At the same time, the British Foreign Minister David Cameron and its German counterpart Analena Burbok they called for a “sustainable ceasefire” as soon as possible in a joint opinion piece published in the Sunday Times.

However, the two foreign ministers opposed a “general and immediate ceasefire”, judging that Hamas “must lay down its arms”.

“Hunger, disease and a weak immune system”

Israeli bombardment has reduced much of the Palestinian enclave to rubble, and the UN estimates that some 1.9 million Gazans have been displaced by the war.

This week, the UN warned that hunger and desperation are driving residents to seize humanitarian aid, which risks leading to a “collapse of public order”.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if people start dying of starvation or a combination of starvation, disease and weak immune systems,” said Philip Lazzarinithe director of the UN agency for Palestine Refugees (OCHA).

His agency also announced a “prolonged blackout” in Gaza since Thursday night, which has continued for the past 48 hours.

Facing mounting international pressure, Israel announced the “temporary” opening of a new entry point for humanitarian aid into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, but did not specify when.

Meanwhile, fighting continued yesterday, with the Israeli military announcing that it had attacked two schools it said were Hamas hideouts in northern Gaza City.

The Israeli military also announced today the death of two of its soldiers, bringing to 121 the total number of Israeli soldiers killed since the offensive on Gaza began in late October.

Yesterday a mother and her daughter were killed by an Israeli soldier and seven people were wounded in a compound that houses the only Catholic church in Gaza City, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem announced.

Also yesterday, dozens of journalists attended the funeral in Khan Yunis of Samir Abu Dakka, a cameraman for the Qatari news television network Al Jazeera, who was killed in an Israeli strike.