No let-up as Gaza war enters 200th day

GAZA STRIP

The Israel-Hamas war entered its 200th day on Tuesday, with fears mounting of an Israeli invasion in the overcrowded south of Gaza amid calls for hostages to be freed.

The Israeli army carried out intense shelling overnight of the Gaza neighbourhoods of Al-Tuffah, Shujaiya and Zeitun.

Shelling and loud explosions were heard in southwest Gaza and Khan Younis in the south, while air strikes struck near the Bureij refugee camp and artillery fire hit the Nuseirat refugee camp.

The military said it struck several Hamas positions in south Gaza at night, with its warplanes hitting about 25 targets including military observation and launch posts.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Tuesday called for the release of the hostages in a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

"For 200 days, the world has stood still for their families, they have missed their laughter, their hugs, the jingling of keys in the opening door," she said.

Israel launched a military offensive that has so far killed at least 34,183 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

The latest ministry toll issued on April 23 included least 32 deaths in the past 24 hours.

For Palestinians in Gaza, April 22 was a day of fresh horror, with the territory's Civil Defense agency saying about 200 bodies were uncovered in the past three days of people killed and buried by Israeli forces at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

An expected Israeli assault on Rafah has aid groups scrambling for ways to help the 1.5 million civilians sheltering in the south Gaza city but the uncertain timeline poses a logistical nightmare.

"We always are prepared with plans to upscale or downscale but, really, we don't know what to expect," said Bushra Khalidi, head of advocacy at Oxfam.

Oxfam joined 12 other aid groups in a joint call for a ceasefire on April 3, stressing that more than a million civilians, including at least 610,000 children, were "in direct line of fire" in Rafah.

Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press appear to show a new compound of tents being built near Khan Younis as the Israeli military continues to signal it plans an offensive on the city of Rafah.

Meanwhile, the EU's humanitarian chief on April 23 urged international donors to fund the U.N. agency for Palestinians after a review said Israel had not yet provided evidence that hundreds of staff were members of terrorist groups.

European commissioner for crisis management Janez Lenarcic welcomed the report for "underlining the agency's significant number of compliance systems in place as well as recommendations for their further upgrade."

"I call on the donors to support UNRWA - the Palestinian refugees' lifeline," he wrote on X.

An independent review group on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said it had found some "neutrality-related issues" in its much-anticipated report released on April 22.

But the review led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna noted "Israel has yet to provide supporting evidence" for its claim that UNRWA employs more than 400 "terrorists."