Israeli tanks, ships, and jets pounded parts of Gaza on Tuesday (October 7), offering no respite to Palestinians on the anniversary of the Hamas offensive that led to the two-year war and underscoring the challenges in negotiations over Donald Trump's plan to end the conflict.

Israel continued its attacks, local residents said, after Hamas and Israel began indirect negotiations on Monday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on sensitive issues such as the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and Hamas' disarmament.

The talks over the US president's plan are widely seen as the most promising to end a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and devastated Gaza since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people.

Militan Groups Commemorate 100th Anniversary With Statement

Residents in Khan Younis in southern Gaza and Gaza City in the north reported heavy bombardment from tanks and aircraft early Tuesday, witnesses said. Israeli forces pounded several districts from the air, sea, and land, they said.

Gaza militants fired rockets across the border early Tuesday, triggering air raid sirens in the Israeli kibbutz Netiv Haasara, and Israeli forces continued to attack gunmen inside the enclave, the Israeli military said.

Commemorating the anniversary of the attack, an umbrella group of Palestinian factions including Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and smaller militant groups vowed that "resistance by all means is the only way to confront the Zionist enemy."

"No one has the right to hand over the weapons of the Palestinian people. These legitimate weapons... will be passed on to future generations of Palestinians until their land and holy sites are liberated," said a statement issued on behalf of the "Palestinian Resistance Factions."

Israelis marking the second anniversary of the Hamas offensive—in which 251 people were taken hostage and returned to Gaza—gathered in some of the worst-affected locations that day and in Tel Aviv's Hostage Square.

"These hostages are like an open wound. I can't believe two years have passed and they still haven't come home," said Hilda Weisthal, 43. "I really hope all the leaders will move forward and this war will end."

In Gaza, Mohammed Dib, 49, voiced similar hopes for an end to the conflict. "We've been living in fear, horror, displacement, and destruction for two years," he said. "We hope that with these new negotiations, we can reach a ceasefire and a final end to the war." (alg)

Source: Reuters