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By Nathan Morley

Medics on the ground say 44 Palestinians have been killed. Reports suggest there have been intense bombardments in Deir El-Balah and the urban refugee camps of central Gaza, where the Israeli military says it is hitting Hamas targets.

This latest violence comes just days after the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees suspended its work in Rafah after the Israeli army entered the city.

The organisation announced last week that it has stopped work in Rafah, as the Israeli armed forces continue the ground operations they have been conducting since early May.

The head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini said the organisation had been forced to suspend the provision of ‘health and other critical services to Rafah’.

A representative of UNRWA confirmed that all the staff had left Rafah and were now working in Khan Younis. Mr. Lazzarini clarified that all 36 shelters of the service in Rafah are now empty.

He pointed out that thousands of forcibly displaced people are forced to live in the ruins of Khan Younis, and destroyed UNRWA facilities in the Jabalia refugee camp.

Mediators striving for hostage and ceasefire deal

All of this violence and upheaval comes as mediators prepare for talks in Doha aimed to securing a hostage and ceasefire deal.

A few days ago, two right-wing ministers threatened to withdraw from Israel’s coalition government if Benjamin Netanyahu agrees to the latest peace deal offer unveiled by US President Joe Biden last Friday.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said they opposed any truce measures unless Hamas was ‘wiped out’.

More than 36,000 people have lost their lives in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

The conflict began in October when Hamas gunmen launched a brutal attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 people and seizing 252 hostages.