Airstrikes and artillery fire continued today in the Gaza Strip, from north to south, where Israel continues its relentless operations against Hamas, hours after the death of four more hostages held in the enclave was announced..

Despite calls for a cease-fire from around the world, conflicting claims on both sides appear to be leading to failure of the peace plan presented last Friday US President Joe Bidenafter almost eight months of war.

About a month after start of the ground operation in Rafah, on the border with Egypt, an operation presented by Israel as the final stage of the war, fighting resumed throughout the enclave. Earlier, eyewitnesses and a local official said warplanes bombed eastern and central Rafah. A witness also said the artillery was aimed at Khan Younis, a town that has been destroyed and is a few kilometers from Rafah.

Shelling was also reported on Gaza City, in the north, and Bureij settlement, in central Gaza. In Deir el-Balah, also in the central Gaza Strip, eight policemen were killed, according to Hamas.

The Israeli military announced that the air force hit “65 terrorist targets” yesterday, Monday.

On the same day, hundreds of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv and accused the government of “abandoning” the hostages. “The blood is on your hands, these people could go home alive and not in coffins,” said Yifat Calderon, a cousin of French-Israeli hostage Ofer Calderon.

“I call on all sides to immediately reach an agreement on the ceasefire and the release of the hostages. There is no other alternative: every delay costs lives every day,” UN Special Envoy for the Middle East Tor Venesland said today.