Hamas: truce with Israel 'within two days'. Hospitals in Gaza collapse

Moussa Abu Marzouk, political leader of the movement, optimistic that the diplomatic "efforts" underway "will be successful". According to an Egyptian source, the parties have reached an agreement in principle for the truce. Hospitals in the Strip overcrowded with waves of deaths and injuries, supplies of life-saving drugs run out.

Gaza (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A senior Hamas official expects a ceasefire with Israel to be reached "within a day or two", but the war along the border shows no sign of waning and hospitals in Gaza are on the verge of collapse between victims and wounded. Acting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems in fact "determined to move forward" until "the calm and security of Israeli citizens are restored".

In the morning alone, there are over 100 raids by fighters with the Star of David directed against sensitive infrastructures and targets of the Palestinian militant group in the north of the Strip. Hamas and Gaza's jihadist groups responded by firing rockets at Israel. So far there have been at least 227 victims in Gaza, including over 100 women and children, at least 13 in the last 24 hours. For Israel, there are at least 150 fighters among the dead, a number that is neither confirmed nor denied by Hamas. On the Israeli front there are 12 victims, including two children.

Moussa Abu Marzouk, Hamas political leader, shows optimism that "the ongoing efforts for a ceasefire will succeed". "I expect - he adds - that a ceasefire will be reached in one or two days, and that it will be based on a mutual agreement".

Meanwhile, the work of international diplomacy on Israel and the Palestinian militant group is being stepped up d to end hostilities: according to an Egyptian source, the two sides have reached an agreement in principle for a truce, but negotiations are still underway.

Yet the health system of the Strip, already in difficulty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, risks collapse due to the fourth war in less than a decade. Hospitals are overloaded with waves of deaths and injuries from Israeli bombing; stocks of some life-saving medicines are running out, fuel (and water) stocks are at the limit.

 Two of the most famous and respected doctors, including the number two head of the coronavirus task force, were killed in the collapse of their home and the only test laboratory was destroyed in the air raids.