Israel’s military siege of the northern Gaza Strip has left about 5,000 Palestinians dead or missing, with brutal attacks intensifying after 100 days amid talks over a possible mediation deal between Israel and Hamas.

Another 9,500 Palestinians were injured in the attacks Israeli military operations in the north A medical source told Al Jazeera on Sunday that the program was launched in early October.

The Gaza government media office on Sunday described the Israeli siege as “the most horrific form of ethnic cleansing, displacement and destruction” affecting hundreds of thousands of people in the war-torn region.

Al Jazeera’s Hind al-Kudari, reporting from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, said that northern Gaza is now a “ghost zone” filled with massive destruction and rubble, but some people have managed to survive there and refuse to leave.

“We see Palestinians being systematically targeted everywhere in the Gaza Strip. No matter where you are, whether you are in a school, a shelter, a makeshift camp or even a hospital,” she said.

Kamal Adwan Hospital is the most famous medical institution in the north burned and burnt Israeli forces carried out the plan in late December as part of a siege, and the fate of arrested director Hussam Abu Safia remains unknown.

As Israeli politicians and settler groups openly discuss Israel’s prospects Building settlements in northern Gazathe siege showed no signs of stopping.

Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in the Mukhabarat district of northern Gaza City, witnesses said Sunday afternoon. Israeli drone fire later killed a young man in the Shati refugee camp.

Overnight, Israel launched a violent attack on the northwest area of ​​Gaza City. On Saturday, Israeli forces launched a direct attack on another school-turned-shelter in Jabaliya, northern Gaza, describing it as a Hamas “command and control center,” killing at least eight Palestinians.

At least 70 children die in five days

The ruthless attack also targeted other Areas that cross the enclave multiple times a daysome of which were the latest to hit the Burij refugee camp in central Gaza.

The Israeli military issued another mandatory evacuation order on Sunday, targeting residents of the northern residential area of ​​the Nuserat refugee camp in central Gaza. Residents were told they would risk being killed if they did not abandon the area.

Gaza Civil Defense announced on Sunday that Israeli forces had killed at least 70 children across the enclave in the past five days alone.

The intensification of Israeli attacks comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized the heads of spy and security agencies Mossad and Shin Bet to travel to Qatar along with other senior representatives to advance talks on the release of Gaza captives and Palestinian prisoners.

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke to Netanyahu on Sunday, the White House said, as U.S. officials tried to reach a Gaza prisoner and ceasefire agreement before Biden leaves office on January 20.

Biden “stressed the immediate need for a ceasefire in Gaza and the return of hostages and an end to the fighting in line with the agreement, thereby increasing humanitarian aid.”

Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said earlier Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union that the two sides were “very, very close” to a deal but still had to cross the finish line.

But Israeli leaders stressed that even with a deal, the war would not end and they would maintain military control of the enclave even as they continued Occupy the West Bankmost of Syria and southern Lebanon.

Despite another massive demonstration against the Israeli government and in support of the deal in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, far-right ministers in the government remained opposed.

Netanyahu was scrambling on Sunday to ensure that Finance Minister Bezarel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir did not threaten the stability of the ruling coalition by abandoning it if a deal was reached. .

At the same time, the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire, with the Israeli army continuing to block the entry of most aid supplies, while causing insecurity. Allow armed robbery of aid convoys.

Famine-like conditions across Gaza have forced thousands of families to brave the open air or shelter in dilapidated tents as Israeli forces continue to raid hospitals and order them to evacuate.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), almost all of Gaza’s 1.1 million children are in need of mental health and psychosocial support amid ongoing Israeli bombardment, repeated displacements and catastrophic living conditions in freezing winter temperatures.

The United Nations estimates that at least 19,000 Palestinian children have been orphaned since the war in Gaza began, now in its 16th month.

Since the outbreak of the war, at least 203 journalists have been killed by the Israeli military, several of them during the New Year period.

Gaza’s health ministry said on Sunday that Israel has killed at least 46,565 Palestinians and injured 109,660 so far, including 28 in the past day.