Gaza war surpasses grim 400-day mark amid escalating Israeli strikes, truce setbacks

GAZA STRIP

Israel's relentless airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have now surpassed 400 days, with no end in sight to the conflict, as Gaza's civil defense agency has reported that at least 30 people were killed in airstrikes on Nov. 10.

Those people included 13 children who died in Israeli strikes on two houses in the north of the Palestinian territory, the defense agency said yesterday, adding that “a number of civilians are still under the rubble.”

With the war marking its grim 400-day milestone on Nov. 9, the already tenuous prospect of a ceasefire suffered another setback as Qatar announced its withdrawal from its role as mediator.

The Gulf emirate, which has hosted Hamas's political leadership since 2012 with U.S. blessing, has been involved in months of protracted diplomacy aimed at ending the war.

However, the talks, also mediated by Cairo and Washington, have repeatedly hit problems since a one-week truce in November 2023, the only one so far. Each side has blamed the other for the impasse.

"Qatar notified the parties 10 days ago, during the last attempts to reach an agreement, that it would stall its efforts to mediate between Hamas and Israel if an agreement was not reached in that round," Doha's Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said in a statement.

"Qatar would resume those efforts... when the parties show their willingness and seriousness," he added.

Al Ansari also called reports concerning the closure Hamas political office in Doha “inaccurate," saying its primary purpose is to be a "channel of communication" between the parties concerned and the channel has contributed to achieving a ceasefire earlier.

International media earlier claimed that Hamas’ leaders were no longer welcome in the Gulf country.

Trump pushing Biden administration: Report 

Meanwhile, a prominent Israeli news outlet claimed that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has informed the Biden administration that he expects to see progress in the efforts to obtain a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Quoting unnamed U.S. officials, Ynet noted that U.S. special envoy Amos Hochstein is optimistic that both parties will manage to broker an agreement to end over a year of cross-border hostilities, along with Israel’s ground campaign in southern Lebanon.

In October, ahead of the presidential elections, Trump pledged to end the “suffering and destruction in Lebanon.”

“I want to see the Middle East return to real peace, a lasting peace and we will get it done properly so it doesn’t repeat itself every five or 10 years,” he added at the time.

The development came after the World Health Organization’s (WHO) chief warned about the escalating crisis in northern Gaza, noting that a famine is imminent there.

“Deeply alarming,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, referring to new findings from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

The data indicates that "there is a strong likelihood that famine is imminent in areas within the northern Gaza Strip," he noted.

“We call for an immediate scale-up and safe access for humanitarian aid — primarily food and medicines for severe malnutrition — within days not weeks.”