Conflict enters 12th month with little sign of respite for Palestinians

The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza entered its 12 month yesterday with little sign of respite for the Palestinian territory.The chances of a truce that would also swap Palestinian prisoners jailed by Israel for hostages held by Hamas appear slim, with both sides sticking doggedly to their positions.Hamas, whose October first week storming of Israel sparked the conflict, is demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists troops must remain along the Gaza-Egypt border.Despite mediation efforts for a ceasefire authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza say the conflict has killed at least 40,939 people.According to the UN human rights office, most of the dead are women and children.Marking the anniversary, UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) chief Philippe Lazzarini posted on X yesterday: "Eleven months. Enough. No one can take this any longer. Humanity must prevail. Ceasefire now.” International pressure to end the war was further underlined by Friday’s shooting dead in the West Bank of a Turkish-American activist demonstrating against Israeli settlements in the occupied territory. The family of 26-year-old Aysenur Ezgi Eygi has demanded an independent investigation into her death, saying yesterday her life "was taken needlessly, unlawfully, and violently by the Israeli military”.The UN rights office said Israeli forces killed Eygi with a "shot in the head”.Turkiye said she was killed by "Israeli occupation soldiers”, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the Israeli action as "barbaric”.The US called her death "tragic”, and has pressed its close ally Israel to investigate.Eygi’s death came on the day Israeli forces withdrew from a deadly 10-day raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, where AFP journalists reported residents returning home to widespread destruction. The Jenin pullout came with Israel at loggerheads with the US over talks to forge a truce in the Gaza war.US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday "90% is agreed” and urged Israel and Hamas to finalise a deal.But Netanyahu denied this, telling Fox News: "It’s not close.” Hamas is demanding Israel’s complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, saying it agreed months ago to a proposal outlined by US President Joe Biden. AFP reporters said several air strikes and shelling rocked the territory overnight and early yesterday.Gaza’s civil defence agency and the Palestinian Red Crescent said an Israeli air strike killed four people near the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. The civil defence and a witness said an air strike that targeted a flat in Bureij camp killed another four.And in Jabalia, an Israeli air strike killed four more Palestinians, civil defence officials said. They added that a woman and a child were also killed in an air strike north of Gaza City.Medics reported at least 33 Palestinians wounded in an air strike on a residential area in Beit Lahia and said they were being treated at Al-Awda, Kamal Adwan and Indonesian hospitals.In the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City, the civil defence said an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter for displaced people killed at least three people and wounded more than 20.