GAZA: Long lines of fleeing civilians filled the roads of Gaza Wednesday as the Zionist entity kept up its renewed bombardment of the territory for a second day despite a chorus of calls from foreign governments to preserve a fragile January ceasefire. The war death toll updated daily by the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory showed an increase of 970 in the space of 48 hours.

Kuwait on Wednesday called for protecting Palestinian civilians from the Zionist occupation’s crimes in the Gaza Strip, stressing that the international community and specialized international organizations bear a great responsibility in providing assistance to the Palestinian people. This came in a statement made by Kuwait’s Permanent Representative to the Arab League Talal Al-Mutairi to KUNA during an extraordinary session of the Arab League Council at the level of permanent delegates to discuss Arab and international action to compel the Zionist occupation to stop its crimes and aggression against the Palestinian people.

Al-Mutairi said Kuwait supported the request submitted by Palestine to discuss and examine Arab action regarding the developments on the ground in the Gaza Strip after the occupying force resumed shelling of Palestinian civilians, stressing the need for an effective role for the countries sponsoring the ceasefire agreement. He explained that Kuwait also issued a statement through the ministry of foreign affairs condemning in the strongest terms the flagrant violation of Palestinian civilians’ rights and the shelling of safe areas, calling on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities towards the continued targeting of civilians by the occupying force.

Families with young children fled northern Gaza for areas further south, fearing for their lives after the Zionist entity urged civilians to leave areas it described as “combat zones”. A Hamas official said the group was open to talks on getting the ceasefire back on track but rejected Zionist demands to renegotiate the three-stage deal agreed with Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators. “Hamas has not closed the door on negotiations but we insist there is no need for new agreements,” Taher Al-Nunu told AFP. “We have no conditions, but we demand that the occupation be compelled to immediately halt its aggression and war of extermination, and begin the second phase of negotiations.”

Negotiations have stalled over how to proceed with a ceasefire whose first phase expired in early March, with the Zionist entity and Hamas disagreeing on whether to move to a new phase intended to bring the war to an end. The Zionist entity and the United States have sought to change the terms of the deal by extending stage one.

That would delay the start of phase two, which was meant to establish a lasting ceasefire and a Zionist withdrawal from Gaza, and was swiftly rejected by Hamas, which demanded full implementation of the original deal. “There is no need for new agreements in light of the existing agreement signed by all parties,” Nunu said. The Zionist entity and the United States have portrayed Hamas’ rejection of an extended stage one as a refusal to release more Zionist hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Netanyahu’s office said he ordered the renewed strikes on Gaza after “Hamas’ repeated refusal to release our hostages”. In a televised address late Tuesday, the premier said: “Hamas has already felt the strength of our arm in the past 24 hours. And I want to promise you — and them — this is only the beginning.” The White House said the Zionist entity consulted US President Donald Trump’s administration before launching the strikes.

The intense Zionist bombardment sent a stream of new casualties to the few hospitals still functioning in Gaza and triggered fears of a return to full-blown war after two months of relative calm. Two people, including a United Nations employee, were killed when a UN building in Deir el-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, was hit, according to a UN source. One of those killed was employed by the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), the source told AFP.

According to a UN statement, “an explosive ordnance was dropped or fired at the infrastructure and detonated inside the building. “We don’t know at this stage what type it was (airdrop weapons, artillery, rocket),” the statement said. The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory blamed the Zionist entity. AFPTV footage showed UN vehicles and an ambulance transporting three men to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Two of them appeared to have leg injuries and a third had bandages on both arms and abdomen, with traces of blood on his chest. – Agencies