Israel rejects int’l calls for ceasefire, says military has encircled Gaza

Israel has continued to reject International calls for a ceasefire in Gaza while announcing that its military has surrounded the besieged Palestinian territory.

According to Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari, Gaza City has been encircled for nearly a week after Israel’s forces expanded ground operations in the Hamas-ruled enclave.

Hagari said a “ceasefire is not currently on the table at all”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who last week said the war against Hamas had entered the “second stage” amid an escalating ground war, said that Israeli Forces were at the “height of the battle”.

Hamas’s Military wing, the Qassam Brigades, warned in response that Gaza would be the “curse of history for Israel” and that Israeli soldiers entering the enclave would go home “in black bags”.

Seven United Nations special rapporteurs have issued a statement calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, expressing concern that Palestinians face a “grave risk of genocide.”

Israel’s assault on Gaza has drawn increasing condemnation since its forces launched successive air raids on the Jabalia refugee camp in Northern Gaza.

According to officials in the Hamas-ruled enclave, over 195 people were killed and hundreds more were injured in the strikes.

Over 9,061 Palestinians have been killed in the bombardment of Gaza, which Israeli forces launched in response to Hamas’s October 7.