Gaza: Mediators push for progress on ceasefire as Israeli bombing continues

Israel has continued violating the ceasefire in Gaza, killing a Palestinian man in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City on Wednesday.

The latest death comes after four people were killed a day earlier, including two people hit by Israeli artillery shelling in the Tuffah neighbourhood.

According to the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Israel has killed 347 Palestinians and wounded a further 889 since the ceasefire came into effect. 596 bodies have also been retrieved from under the rubble.

Amid the Israeli attacks, American and Egyptian mediators have been pushing for progress on implementing the ceasefire deal, which remains in its first phase.

US President Donald Trump has reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be "a better partner" in implementing the ceasefire, according to Axios.

This includes the issue of Hamas fighters trapped in tunnels in Israeli-controlled Gaza - more than 30 of whom have been killed by  Israel.

Allowing for the surrender of Hamas fighters was broached as an approach by the US administration, according to the report.

Egyptian officials also told The New Arab's Arabic-language sister site, Alaraby Aljadeed, that despite their attempts to move the ceasefire into its second phase, talks with Israel and Hamas have made no progress.

In particular, they noted that Israel is unwilling to move into a second phase before the disarmament of Hamas, as well as removing Hamas fighters trapped in tunnels in Israeli-occupied areas.

According to reports in recent weeks, the US is pushing ahead with plans to exclusively redevelop the areas of Gaza under Israeli control, while leaving the issue of Hamas' disarmament unaddressed.

Captives' remains

On Wednesday, Israel said that the remains handed over on Tuesday by Hamas did not belong to the two captives' yet to be repatriated to Israel.

After continued searches, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) said that they will hand over the remains of a body at 5pm local time after finding the "remains that are possibly those of an Israeli hostage" in north Gaza's Beit Lahia.

PIJ previously said it was searching for the body of a captive with a Red Cross team in North Gaza.

Amid efforts to get the ceasefire back on track, Gaza's humanitarian situation remains dire, with the UN's agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) saying that it has responded to flooding across 32 of its schools that currently act as shelters.

OCHA's spokesperson Stephane Dujarric has called on Israel to open all border crossings into the enclave to facilitate the scale-up of aid.

"We continue to call for the opening of all available border crossings and corridors – including so that patients can seek treatment in the West Bank - and stress the need for unimpeded access for international emergency medical teams to under Gaza," he was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.

According to the World Health Organization, 16,500 patients in Gaza need life-saving care that is currently unavailable in the enclave, where the health system has been decimated by Israel's war.

On Wednesday, Israel announced it was opening the Rafah border crossing within days, but "exclusively for the exit of residents from the Gaza Strip to Egypt". Amid its war on Gaza, Israel has persistently pushed for Gazans to be expelled to Egypt - a proposal Cairo has strongly rejected.

NGO Medical Aid for Palestinians said that 6,000 people with amputations are in need of long-term rehabilitation programmes, with 25 percent of all amputation cases being children.