Gaza death toll passes 53,000 as Israel drives towards ‘conquest’

Israel intensifies its bombardment of enclave as threatened, as curtain comes down on Trump’s Middle East tour.

Air strikes have reportedly killed hundreds of people in Gaza as Israel intensified its bombardment in line with a plan for “conquest” of the enclave.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said that at least 50 people were killed in Israeli strikes overnight, adding to 143 reported to have been killed the previous day. The casualties pushed the total death toll in the Palestinian territory since Israel launched its onslaught on October 7, 2023 to more than 53,000.

In response, Hamas called on the international community to hold Israel to account for what it described as a “barbaric escalation”. The Israeli military has not commented on the strikes.

Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated a promise to push ahead with a promised escalation in pursuit of his aim to destroy Hamas, the Palestinian armed group that governs Gaza.

That follows an announcement by Netanyahu last week that the military campaign would be intensified should Hamas fail to agree a deal to release the remaining captives by the time United States President Donald Trump finished his tour of the Middle East.

Trump was due to wrap up his four-day trip, which did not include a visit to Israel or Palestine, on Friday.

There had been hope that the tour could help usher in a ceasefire deal or renewal of aid to Gaza. The humanitarian crisis in the enclave is building with an Israeli blockade of the territory now in its third month.

However, Israeli officials suggested last week that plans include the “conquest” and full military occupation of the entire Gaza Strip, and potentially a bid to push Palestinians out of the enclave – a suggestion also put forward by Trump.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 53,010 Palestinians and wounded 119,919, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. The Strip’s Government Media Office has updated its death toll to more than 61,700, saying thousands of others missing under the rubble are presumed dead. The war followed an attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and about 250 taken captive.

‘Not for sale’

Israel has halted the entry of food, medication and all other essentials into Gaza since March 2, saying that the blockade, alongside “military pressure”, is intended to force Hamas to free the remaining captives.

However, senior Hamas official Basem Naim reiterated on Thursday the group’s position that the entry of aid into Gaza is a prerequisite for any talks with Israel.

“Access to food, water and medicine is a fundamental human right – not a subject for negotiation,” he added.

The US and Israel are preparing a plan that they say will allow the resumption of aid by an NGO, while keeping supplies out of Hamas’s hands.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has said it will begin distributing aid this month. However, the United Nations and other aid organisations have ruled out involvement in the initiative, saying it does not respect the impartiality, neutrality and independence of aid operations.

However, the US is pushing on, apparently keen to “get involved” in Gaza, as Trump put it during his trip to the region.

Speaking in the United Arab Emirates on Friday, the US president said: “We’re looking at Gaza. And we’re going to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving.”

The previous day, however, he reiterated his idea of having the US take over Gaza and pushing Palestinians out of the enclave.

“I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good … let the United States get involved and make it just a freedom zone,” he said, adding that he would be “proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone”.

The comments echoed a widely condemned idea he floated in February for the US to “take over” the devastated territory and redevelop it into “the Riviera of the Middle East”.

In response, Hamas official Naim said that the territory is “not for sale”.

“Gaza is an integral part of Palestinian land,” he declared. “It is not real estate for sale on the open market.”

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Al Jazeera and news agencies