New round of Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip leaves more than 100 dead in a single day: 'We are afraid'

At least 103 people were killed Thursday in renewed Israeli bombardments in the Gaza Strip , according to local relief services, as the blockade of the territory continues, which HRW says has become a "tool of extermination."

The air force targeted the north and south of the territory, devastated by more than 19 months of Israeli offensives in response to the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas's assault on October 7, 2023.

The Israeli blockade has gone beyond military tactics to become a tool of extermination.

"There has been intense Israeli bombardment all night," said Amir Saleha, a resident of the northern Gaza Strip. "We are afraid day and night. Every day people die, every day there are injuries. We don't know when it will be our turn."

The Gaza Civil Defense said the death toll from Israeli attacks since dawn Thursday has risen to 103.

Amid this backdrop of incessant attacks, US President Donald Trump's Middle East tour provided a boost to Qatar's mediation efforts, with delegations from Israel and Hamas traveling to the region this week.

In Doha, the US president discussed the conflict in Gaza with the Emir of Qatar on Wednesday night, according to his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who reported some progress.

We are afraid day and night. Every day people die, every day there are injuries. We don't know when it will be our turn.

However, Hamas on Thursday accused Israel of "undermining" the mediation efforts of Qatar, the United States, and Egypt with its "deliberate military escalation."

Trump, in turn, returned to his idea of ​​the United States taking control of the Strip, turning it into a "free zone."

Despite pressure for a solution to the conflict and harsh international criticism for the continued war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned this week that his army will fully enter Gaza to "complete the operation " and "defeat Hamas."

Netanyahu also said his country is trying to find countries willing to host the population of Gaza , a territory the Israeli government is seeking to "conquer." Both Jordan and Egypt have reiterated their opposition to a displacement of the enclave's population.

Breaking a two-month truce, Israel resumed its offensive on March 18 with the stated goal of securing the release of all hostages taken by Hamas by October 7, 2023.

The militants took 251 hostages that day, of whom 57 remain captive in Gaza, including 34 who the army says are dead.

In the Hamas attack, 1,218 people were killed on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

The Israeli military campaign, for its part, has killed nearly 53,000 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Ministry of Health of the Hamas-ruled territory. The United Nations considers this figure reliable.

Since March 2, Israeli forces have also blocked the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, which is essential for its 2.4 million inhabitants, who are now threatened by "mass famine," according to several NGOs, including Doctors of the World, Doctors Without Borders, and Oxfam.

"The Israeli blockade has gone beyond a military tactic to become a tool of extermination," Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

For its part, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US-created and supported NGO, said it plans to provide aid to the Palestinian territory by the end of May, with the distribution of nearly 300 million food rations for an initial period of 90 days.

Since the start of the war in Gaza, violence has also erupted in the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel since 1967.

In the latest incident, a pregnant Israeli woman on her way to a hospital to give birth was killed when her vehicle was shot at while traveling in the central West Bank, near the Brukhin settlement.

"We will use all means at our disposal and find the killers and bring them to justice," said Israeli Chief of Staff General Eyal Zamir.

The Tamun mayor's office in the northern West Bank said five people were killed in an Israeli military operation.