Gaza war Day 58: World leaders call for fresh ceasefire as death toll crosses 15, 000

Israel Defence Forces (IDF) are continuing to bomb Gaza, carrying out large-scale airstrikes against Hamas targets in the Strip as the world leaders deliberate to bring both parties back to the negotiating table.

At least 240 Palestinians have been reported to be killed in the territory since Friday morning after the truce expired, with the overall death toll crossing 15,000.

Israel has shifted the focus of bombardments to southern Gaza especially Khan Younis, which is likely to make the humanitarian efforts more challenging. Around 1.8 million civilians of Gaza fled towards the south to avoid Israeli bombardments.

Israel has ruled out any talks with Hamas about the ceasefire. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that they are preparing for an escalation of its war against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

“We will continue the war until we achieve all its goals, and it’s impossible to achieve those goals without the ground operation," he said in a televised conference.

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The world leaders continue to express their concern over the rising death toll in Gaza with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken asking Israel to do whatever possible to protect civilian lives in Gaza.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that Israel is risking “strategic defeat" in case it fails to stop the rising civilian death toll.

“As Israel defends itself, it matters how. The United States is unequivocal international humanitarian law must be respected. Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. Frankly, the scale of civilian suffering and the images and videos coming from Gaza are devastating." US Vice-President Kamala Harris said.

Meanwhile, the UK is also planning to carry out unarmed surveillance flights over the Middle Eastern region to find the locations of its citizens held hostage by Hamas.

French President Emmanuel Macron will likely head to Qatar to get both Israel and Hamas back to the truce deal. The leader said that Israel's objective to completely eliminate Hamas risks decades of war.

The United Nations and various humanitarian organizations have been consistently raising alarms about the unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Gaza due to a shortage of essential resources such as food, clean water, and medical assistance.

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