Israeli army

After nearly three months of deadly strikes, incessant displacements and sputtering humanitarian aid, "exhausted" Gazans say they are desperate for an end to the fighting as Israel's war against Hamas looks set to grind on into the new year.

About 150,000 Palestinians have been forced to leave areas in the central part of the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli forces' offensive against the refugee camps in this area continues. The number of victims of the conflict is growing, reports from the Palestinian side.

The Israeli army is increasingly preparing for a decisive expansion of combat operations against the Shiite movement "Hezbollah" in Lebanon, DPA reported.

Israeli forces pressed on with intensified attacks in the Gaza Strip's biggest southern city and a central refugee camp, after the territory's Hamas-run health ministry reported more than 21,000 people had been killed in 11 weeks of war.

Israel again pounded Gaza with air strikes and shelling on Wednesday after its armed forces chief warned the war raging with Hamas since the October 7 attacks will last "many more months".

Explosion lit up the night sky over the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis — a focus of heavy urban combat since the Israeli army said it had largely gained operational control over Gaza's north.

Israel on Tuesday kept up its strikes against Gaza targets despite grave concern expressed by the United Nations, which named a coordinator for desperately needed humanitarian aid.

The Israeli army said it struck military sites and tunnel shafts in Jabalia, northern Gaza, and Khan Yunis in the south, as heavy ground combat continued.

Israel said its armed forces were increasingly focused on Hamas targets in south Gaza Sunday, as the United States again pressed its ally to do more to protect Palestinian civilians.

Signalling a pivot after weeks of intensive fighting around Gaza City, the Israeli army said troops were now looking to the Hamas stronghold of Khan Yunis and elsewhere in the south.

Israel announced that it had detained hundreds of Hamas representatives. The radical Islamist movement accuses the Jewish state of executions without trial and sentence, BTA reported.

It takes a while but slowly the children gathered around volunteer entertainer Ruaa Hassuna in a Gaza camp start clapping along as her music offers some respite from the horrors around them.

The US has said "very serious" talks are underway for a new ceasefire in Gaza and the release of more Israeli hostages. However, prospects for a deal remain uncertain as the Palestinian group Hamas insists it will only discuss an end to the Israeli offensive in the Palestinian enclave. Talks in Cairo on a new cease-fire failed to produce a deal.