The Gaza Health Ministry reported Wednesday that the Israeli occupation forces committed six massacres against families in the last 24 hours, resulting in the deaths of 62 people and the injury of 253 others. These latest attacks come as negotiations for a potential ceasefire are underway, highlighting the devastating human cost of the ongoing conflict and underscoring the urgency of a lasting and just peace.

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The bombardment has intensified since dawn, with at least 32 Palestinians killed in a series of strikes. In the northern Gaza Strip, ten Palestinians were killed during military incursions, while an airstrike in the Al-Rimal neighborhood, west of Gaza City, claimed two lives and left several others wounded. The Israeli military also conducted two separate attacks on civilians: one near the Al-Shati camp, where two people died, and another in Al-Zawaida, where four Palestinians were killed when a drone attacked a civilian vehicle.

Additional airstrikes targeted residential areas in Deir al-Balah, resulting in 11 deaths of members of the Shuqura and Saleh families who were sheltering in a home. A separate bombardment in the Nuseirat camp killed seven people. Among the victims of this latest wave of violence were two children killed in a drone attack on a displacement tent in Tiba Al-Nweiri, underscoring the indiscriminate nature of the attacks and the profound human cost of this conflict.

The escalating attacks by the Israeli military come despite ongoing ceasefire negotiations with the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas. While Hamas confirmed that significant progress has been made in the negotiations, disagreements persist on key issues. A source from Hamas stated that they are awaiting specific maps and timelines from Tel Aviv regarding the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip. “We want guarantees that after phase three, the (Israeli) Army will have withdrawn from all of the Gaza Strip,” the source explained.

However, Israel continues to insist on maintaining control over a buffer zone stretching over 1.2 kilometers into Gaza, an area where infrastructure has been systematically destroyed during the conflict. Discussions also include the return of displaced Palestinians after the war, as well as the future governance of Palestine, highlighting deep divisions and power struggles that lie at the heart of the conflict.

The relentless violence against civilian populations in Gaza reveals a pattern of indiscriminate attacks that can only be described as a grave violation of human rights and international law. The intentional destruction of homes, hospitals, and other civilian infrastructure, compounded by the blockade, constitutes a form of collective punishment aimed at subjugating the Palestinian population. These deliberate actions by the Israeli military, carried out in defiance of global calls for restraint, further expose the brutality of the occupation and the urgent need for international intervention to hold the perpetrators accountable.

The ongoing violence in Gaza serves as a grim reminder of the inherent imbalance of power between the occupying force and the occupied people, highlighting the urgent need for a just and comprehensive resolution to the conflict. This requires a fundamental change in the way the international community engages with the Palestinian struggle, by recognizing that the pursuit of liberation is an essential component of the pursuit of human rights.

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