Hospitals in north Gaza out of service as killings continue

The Israeli military said on Sunday it had begun “extensive ground operations” in northern and southern Gaza, stepping up its campaign in the enclave, where Palestinian health officials said Israeli strikes killed at least 130 people overnight.

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Israel made its announcement after sources on both sides said there had been no progress in a new round of indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in Qatar.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the talks included discussions on a truce and hostage deal as well as a proposal to end the war in return for the exile of Hamas members and the demilitarisation of the enclave - terms Hamas has previously rejected.

The statement was in line with previous declarations from Israel, but the timing, as negotiators meet, offered some prospect of flexibility in Israel's position. A senior Israeli official said there had been no progress in the talks so far.

The Israeli military suggested in a later statement that it could still scale down operations to help reach a deal in Doha. Military chief Eyal Zamir told troops in Gaza that the army would provide the country’s leaders with the flexibility they needed to reach a hostage deal, according to the statement.

Israel's military said it had conducted a preliminary wave of strikes on more than 670 Hamas targets in Gaza over the past week to support “Gideon's Chariots”, its new ground operation aimed at achieving “operational control” in parts of the enclave. It said it killed dozens of Hamas fighters.