Truce hopes fade as Gaza rocked by Israeli bombardment, battles

Israel “securing the southern border” of Gaza was crucial for achieving the war’s objectives, his office said late Wednesday, rejecting as “incorrect” media reports that “Netanyahu has agreed that Israel will withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor”.
Government spokesman David Mencer later called the Gaza-Egypt border strip, which Israel says militants use to smuggle weapons, a “Hamas lifeline”.
Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the Gaza civil defence agency, said “five bodies were pulled from under the rubble” of a house in Khan Younis, southern Gaza’s main city, hit by Israeli bombardment on Thursday.
“The bombing never stops,” said 32-year-old Tahani Abu Sherbi, a mother of four, in central Gaza.
Although Israel has issued an evacuation order for the area, “we decided not to move despite the danger,” she told AFP.
“We are tired of displacement.”
Witnesses said they saw heavy Israeli shelling in Khan Younis and air strikes in southern and central Gaza, while the military said Israeli troops intensified operations around Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah further north.
Civil defence rescuers said that an Israeli strike Wednesday killed at least three people in a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City, which the military said was used by militants.