Israel has announced the start of a major new offensive in the Gaza Strip, after earlier reporting that air strikes had killed over 100 people in the Palestinian territory, the Guardian reported, quoted by BNR.
According to the Jewish army, this is a new attempt to force the Hamas group to release hostages.
A statement by the Israel Defense Forces, published late on Friday evening, states that they "have launched wide-ranging attacks and mobilized units to seize strategic areas in the Gaza Strip". The statement also said that this was "an expansion of the Gaza campaign to achieve all the objectives of the war" in the Strip.
The information came just after the end of US President Donald Trump's tour of the region. Trump visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, but did not visit Israel, the "Guardian" recalls.
A Qatari source told the news website Axios on Friday that the current round of ceasefire talks between Israel and "Hamas" with Qatar is "the worst ever", as "nothing has been achieved".
"The impression created is that the Israelis came to Doha to sabotage the talks and find an excuse to renew the war in Gaza," the Axios source said.
Meanwhile, an Israeli source noted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still hoping for a breakthrough in the talks and is seeking to reach at least some form of agreement for the hostages still being held by "Hamas".
Earlier this month, it was reported that the United States was "pressing" Israel to reach an agreement with "Hamas" and that it disagreed with the Middle Eastern country supporting the continuation of the military campaign in Gaza instead of the return of the hostages.