Israeli forces launch 'extensive' ground operation across Gaza as death toll rises

The Israeli military announced a significant ground incursion into "multiple areas" of the Gaza Strip on Sunday, as Palestinian health officials reported that overnight and early morning airstrikes had killed at least 67 people, including many women and children.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that ground forces, including reservists, have begun "extensive operations" in both northern and southern Gaza as part of a broader offensive it has termed "Gideon's Chariots." This marks a new phase in Israel's 20-month-long war against the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and other militant factions.

Israeli military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said on Sunday that the army would continue its newly launched ground operation in Gaza until it "breaks" Hamas's militant ability.

Over the past week, the Israeli Air Force has carried out a wave of airstrikes, hitting more than 670 Hamas military targets across Gaza, including weapons depots, underground infrastructure, anti-tank missile launchers, and armed personnel, according to an IDF statement.

The Israeli military said its forces have killed "dozens" of militants, dismantled both above- and below-ground military infrastructure, and are now positioned at strategic locations within Gaza.

Palestinian sources reported that Israeli airstrikes struck the Khan Younis area in southern Gaza, including tents sheltering displaced civilians.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Friday that at least 67 Palestinians were killed and 361 others wounded in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours.

Local health authorities have confirmed that the Palestinian death toll from the Israeli offensive since October 2023 has reached 53,339, with an additional 121,043 people injured. They added that the majority of the casualties were women and children.

According to their figures, the death toll since Israel's resumption of hostilities on March 18, following a two-month truce, has risen to 3,193, with 8,993 others injured.

Meanwhile, delegations from Israel and Hamas convened in Doha, Qatar, for another round of indirect negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire and the release of hostages. However, diplomats indicated that progress remains elusive, as both sides continue to maintain firm positions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed earlier on Sunday that an Israeli negotiation team was engaged in indirect talks in Doha regarding a potential hostage release deal with Hamas, which could include a pathway to ending the Gaza war.

The negotiation team is working in the capital of Qatar "to realize every chance for a deal," including one that will "end the fighting", secure the release of the 58 hostages still held in Gaza, expel Hamas militants, and disarm the Gaza Strip, the office said in a statement.

On the same day, a senior Israeli official said on Sunday that the negotiations have made little progress so far.

Senior Hamas member Osama Hamdan said that some "unacceptable" proposals had been presented during the Doha talks. "We are still negotiating, and ideas that are unacceptable to us are being put forward, and we are also presenting our own ideas," Hamdan was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera, adding that no final agreement has been reached yet.

Israeli forces launch 'extensive' ground operation across Gaza as death toll rises

Nicaragua's co-foreign minister Valdrack Jaentschke has warned that militarism must never be allowed to rise again, as Japan's recent moves to lift its arms export ban and revise the pacifist Constitution continue to draw international concern.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials, where Japan's Class-A war criminals from World War II were brought to justice.

In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Valdrack Jaentschke voiced his concern that today's world order is being undermined by interventionism and other challenges.

"It is necessary for us to remember that after the end of World War II, countries worked hard to build a new international order based on international law. However, regrettably, more than 80 years later, we are seeing that this once explored and attempted order is being challenged by interventionism, a confrontational mindset, and tendencies like 'might makes right.' These are precisely the conditions that gave rise to fascism and militarism in the past, which ultimately led to the tragedy of World War II," he said.

He said the international community has a responsibility to pursue a new international order -- one fundamentally grounded in peace.

"Looking back at the history more than eight decades ago and comparing it with today's reality, it is our responsibility to recognize that the world should, and must, build a new international order that is more just, fairer, rooted in international law, based on a logic of mutual benefit and shared success, and fundamentally grounded in peace," said the minister.

"Today, as we revisit the Tokyo Trials, it is meant to remind the world that such a tragedy must never be repeated -- and that we must do everything in our power to prevent it from happening again. We must stop that dark world -- born from militarism, interventionism, and fascism -- from ever returning," he said.

Nicaraguan FM warns of militarism revival