Israeli strikes kill 66 Palestinians in central Gaza camp
At least 66 people have been killed in Israel’s bombing on central Gaza over the past 24 hours, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Gaza has reported.
The central refugee camps of al-Bureij and Maghazi were the most affected, as Israeli forces claim to be hitting Hamas targets while ground troops operate “in a focused manner with guidance from intelligence” in the al-Bureij area.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, reportedly the only medical facility offering services in central Gaza, is currently “overflowing with wounded people”, many of whom are being treated on the floor, according to a spokesperson from the Gaza health ministry.
Many displaced Palestinians have since fled al-Bureij, which is one of the places that hosted displaced Palestinians escaping the southern city of Rafah following Israel’s latest operations in the former shelter city.
Israeli tanks have reportedly reached as far as the centre of Rafah, with questions arising over the US’s alleged “red line” regarding Israeli attacks on the Palestinian city.
US, Israel ‘waiting’ for Hamas response on ceasefire proposal
Israel has accepted its latest ceasefire proposal presented by US President Joe Biden, and the parties are now awaiting a formal response from Hamas, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday.
“We are waiting for a response from Hamas” through the Qatari mediators, he said during a briefing aboard Air Force One.
“The onus is on Hamas and will remain on Hamas until we get a formal response from them,” he said, adding that he would not be surprised should the group choose to “let the war and the suffering and the violence continue”.
Hamas had initially said it viewed the proposal “positively” but expressed concern over Israel’s insistence on continuing the war.
While the three-phase plan was presented by Biden last week as an Israeli plan, the latter’s leaders have since pledged to keep fighting Hamas until the group is dismantled, and claimed the current deal allows them to do so.
Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official, said on Tuesday that the group will not accept a deal that does not clearly include a permanent ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
“The Israeli response talks about opening the door for negotiations on everything with no end or timeline … this confirms that Israel only wants one phase, where it takes its prisoners then resumes its aggression and war against our people,” he said from Beirut.
“We ask mediators to get a clear position from the Israeli occupation to commit to a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal,” he added.
Former Meta employee suing employer, says fired after questioning policies on Palestinian creators
Former Meta employee Ferras Hamad is suing his employer for discrimination and wrongful termination, saying he was fired for trying to help fix bugs causing the suppression of Palestinian posts on Instagram, Reuters reports.
Hamad, a Palestinian-American engineer, had been on Meta’s machine learning team since 2021.
He claims the company has a pattern of bias against Palestinians, adding that Meta deleted internal employee communications that mentioned the deaths of their relatives in Gaza and conducted investigations into their use of the Palestinian flag.
No such actions were taken over the use of the Israeli or Ukrainian flags, he says.
In one case, Hamad’s complaint alleges, a video posted by Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza was wrongly classified as pornographic content, even though the post showed a destroyed building in Gaza.
After bringing light to the issue, Hamad says he was put under investigation and fired days after he filed an internal discrimination complaint.
Hamad said Meta told him he was fired for violating a policy that forbids employees from working on issues with accounts of people they personally know, referring to Azaiza. Hamad says he has no personal connection with Azaiza.