No let-up in Israeli terrorism on 200th day of war, martyrs' toll at 34,183

GAZA, Palestine (AFP) - The Israel-Hamas war entered its 200th day on Tuesday with fears mounting of an Israeli invasion in the overcrowded south of the besieged Gaza Strip amid calls for hostages to be freed.

The Israeli army carried out intense shelling overnight of Gaza City, AFP correspondents and witnesses said, with the military saying it also struck Hamas positions in south Gaza. The Health Ministry in Gaza said at least 34,183 people have been martyred in the territory. The tally includes at least 32 martyred in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 77,143 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7.

Shelling and loud explosions were heard in southwest Gaza and the city of Khan Yunis in the south, while air strikes struck near the Bureij refugee camp and artillery fire hit the Nuseirat refugee camp. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Tuesday called for the captives' release. "As long as the hostages are not free, we will not let up," she said on X. "Only when they are home will peace have a chance."

As diplomacy aimed at ending the war stalls, key mediator Qatar said Hamas's political leadership would stay in Doha "as long as their presence here... is useful and positive in this mediation effort", according to foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari.

The Gulf state, which has hosted Hamas leaders since 2012, said last week it was reassessing its mediation role, fuelling speculation that the Palestinian group could be asked to leave.

Fears for aid 'lifeline'

Global opposition has mounted over the civilian toll of Israel's Gaza offensive which has turned vast areas into rubble and sparked fears of famine. The United Nations says "multiple obstacles" continue to impede delivery of urgently needed aid for Gazans desperate for food, water, shelter and medicine. But Netanyahu has vowed to press on with a planned offensive on Rafah, the town on the border with Egypt where most of Gaza's 2.4 million population has sheltered.

Citing Egyptian officials briefed on the Israeli plans, the Wall Street Journal said Israel was planning to move civilians from Rafah to nearby Khan Yunis. The operation would last two to three weeks and be done in coordination with the United States, Egypt and other Arab countries including the United Arab Emirates, the Journal reported.

Israel would then send troops into Rafah gradually, targeting areas where Hamas's leaders are thought to be hiding, in a military operation that would last six weeks, it added. Foreign ministers of the G7 group of developed economies have said they oppose a "full-scale military operation in Rafah" because of the "catastrophic consequences" for civilians, fears shared by many aid groups.

With Rafah also being the main entry point for humanitarian relief into Gaza, an Israeli invasion there "means cutting the aid system off from its lifeline", said Ahmed Bayram, media adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council in the Middle East.