We will agree to a deal on the condition that all the hostages are released in a single phase and in accordance with our terms for ending the war,” read a statement from Netanyahu’s

Palestinian residents of Gaza City have come under relentless Israeli bombardment as the military prepares for a major offensive to seize and ethnically cleanse the area, barring emergency workers from reaching people trapped in the residential Zeitoun neighbourhood.

The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza since then has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel plans to widen its coming offensive beyond Gaza City to the last areas not yet under Israeli control.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, said “this further escalation will result in more killing, more unbearable suffering, senseless destruction."

The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza since then has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.

Israel says it plans to take over Gaza City, the largest urban area in the territory and one that has already suffered extensive devastation in repeated Israeli raids.

Israel's security cabinet has approved a plan to take control of Gaza City, in a controversial escalation of its war in Gaza. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians live in the city in the north of the Gaza Strip. It was the enclave's most populous city before the war.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — More than 100 nonprofit groups warned Thursday that Israel’s rules for aid groups working in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank will block much-needed relief and replace independent organizations with those that serve Israel’s political and military agenda — charges that Israel denied.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said Friday it will intensify its 22-month war with Hamas by taking over Gaza City, stirring fears for Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, and renewing international pressure for an end to the conflict.