More than 60 people dead as Israel initiates significant ground operations in northern and southern Gaza.

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Key Points

The Israeli military has intensified its operations in Gaza, initiating significant ground activities in both the northern and southern regions.
According to the Gaza health ministry, at least 67 Palestinians have died, and 361 have been wounded over the past day.
Diplomatic attempts to secure a ceasefire continue to be ineffective.

Israel’s military declared “extensive ground operations” as part of an expanded offensive in Gaza, resulting in reports of numerous casualties from the strikes.

This announcement followed shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested Israel was open to negotiating with Hamas to “end the fighting” in the isolated Palestinian region.

The military confirmed that in the last day, they had “commenced extensive ground operations throughout the northern and southern Gaza Strip”.

On Monday, the Gaza health ministry reported at least 67 Palestinian fatalities and 361 injuries in the preceding 24 hours.

Israel said its ramped-up campaign aims to free hostages and defeat Hamas, but as it got underway, Israel and the group were entering indirect talks in Qatar aimed at creating a deal.

In a statement over the weekend, Netanyahu’s office said: “The negotiation team in Doha is working to exhaust every possibility for a deal — whether according to the Witkoff framework or as part of ending the fighting.”

Steve Witkoff is the United States’ Middle East envoy who has been involved in previous discussions.

Netanyahu’s statement said such a deal “would include the release of all the hostages, the exile of Hamas terrorists, and the disarmament of the Gaza Strip”.

In the previous month, a Hamas spokesperson emphasized that disarming and the ongoing Israeli occupation are not negotiable, and the group aims for a lasting ceasefire.

Since Israel broke a two-month ceasefire in March and resumed its offensive, negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US have failed to make a breakthrough.

Netanyahu has opposed ending the war without Hamas’ total defeat, while tens of thousands of Israelis have called on their leader to strike a peace deal to bring those held in Hamas captivity home.

A Hamas source involved in the Doha negotiations indicated the group is ready “to free all Israeli hostages at once, contingent upon securing a full and permanent ceasefire”, while Israel “prefers releasing its prisoners all at once or in stages for a temporary truce”.

Air raid sirens sounded in southern Israel on Sunday, as the army said two projectiles were launched from Gaza, with one intercepted.

The military later issued an evacuation order for several parts of Gaza ahead of an attack, warning it would “launch a powerful strike on any area used for launching rockets”.

On the ground, Gaza civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP 22 Palestinians were killed and at least 100 others wounded in a pre-dawn attack on tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in al-Mawasi in the southern Gaza Strip.