The Israeli military said Saturday it had launched “extensive strikes” as part of a fresh offensive in Gaza, after rescuers reported 100 people killed in the besieged Palestinian territory.The army said on Telegram it had begun the “initial stages” of the offensive, known as Operation Gideon’s Chariots.The operation was part of “the expansion of the battle in the Gaza Strip, with the goal of achieving all the war’s objectives, including the release of the abducted and the defeat of Hamas”, it said in a post in Arabic.A separate statement in English said the army was “mobilizing troops to achieve operational control in areas of the Gaza Strip”.Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli strikes on Gaza had killed 100 people on Friday, while the army said its forces had “struck over 150 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip” in 24 hours.Israel resumed its military offensive in Gaza on March 18 after a two-month truce in its war against Hamas, which was triggered by an attack by the Palestinian group in October 2023.The latest operation comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces increasing pressure to lift a sweeping aid blockade on Gaza, as NGOs warn of critical shortages of food, clean water, fuel and medicines.The return to fighting since March 18 has drawn international condemnation, with the UN’s rights chief on Friday denouncing the renewed attacks — and what he described as an apparent push to permanently displace the population.- ‘Ethnic cleansing’ -“This latest barrage of bombs… and the denial of humanitarian assistance underline that there appears to be a push for a permanent demographic shift in Gaza that is in defiance of international law and is tantamount to ethnic cleansing,” Volker Turk said in a statement.The main Israeli campaign group representing the families of hostages said that by extending the fighting, Netanyahu was missing a “historic opportunity” to get their loved ones out through diplomacy.Hamas on Friday demanded the United States press Israel to lift the aid blockade in return for a US-Israeli hostage released by the group.Edan Alexander, the last living hostage with US nationality, was freed last week after direct engagement with the Trump administration that left Israel sidelined.As part of the understanding with Washington regarding Alexander’s release, senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said the group was “awaiting and expecting the US administration to exert further pressure” on Israel “to open the crossings and allow the immediate entry of humanitarian aid”.Israel says its decision to cut off aid to Gaza was intended to force concessions from Hamas, which still holds dozens of Israeli hostages seized during the October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war. – ‘People are starving’ -US President Donald Trump acknowledged on Friday that “a lot of people are starving” in the besieged Palestinian territory.”We’re looking at Gaza. And we’re going to get that taken care of,” Trump told reporters in Abu Dhabi, on a regional tour that excluded key ally Israel.The Arab League is to meet in Baghdad on Saturday to discuss regional crises, with Gaza expected to be high on the agenda.United Nations chief Antonio Guterres will attend the summit, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez — who has sharply criticised Israel’s offensive in Gaza — is expected to address it as a guest.The Hamas attack of October 7, 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.Of the 251 hostages taken during the attack, 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said 2,985 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,119.

The Arab League is meeting in Baghdad on Saturday to discuss Gaza and other regional crises, but some key leaders are expected to miss the talks that come straight after US President Donald Trump’s Gulf tour.Trump sparked uproar earlier this year by declaring that America would take over Gaza and turn it into a “Riviera of the Middle East”, prompting Arab leaders to come up with a plan to rebuild the territory at a March summit in Cairo.Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas was the first Arab leader to arrive in Baghdad Friday.But a diplomatic source said that most Gulf countries will attend at a ministerial level.The war in Gaza is expected to dominate the agenda, especially after Israel approved plans to expand its offensive and spoke of the “conquest” of the territory.United Nations chief Antonio Guterres will attend the summit, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez — who has sharply criticised Israel’s devastating offensive in Gaza — is expected to address it as a guest.Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said the Baghdad summit will endorse decisions that were made in Cairo’s meeting in March to support Gaza’s reconstruction as an alternative to Trump’s widely condemned proposal.Trump on Thursday reiterated from Qatar that he wanted the US to “take” Gaza and turn it into a “freedom zone”.- Syria, Iran -Iraq has only recently regained a semblance of normalcy after decades of devastating conflict and turmoil, and its leaders view the summit as an opportunity to project an image of stability.In an op-ed about the summit earlier this month, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani wrote: “Today, we are not just rebuilding Iraq, we are also reshaping the Middle East through a balanced foreign policy, a wise leadership, development initiatives, and strategic partnerships.”Baghdad last hosted an Arab League summit in 2012, amid domestic tensions and at the start of the war in neighbouring Syria, which only six months ago entered a new chapter after the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.In Riyadh, Trump met Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a onetime jihadist whose Islamist group spearheaded the offensive that toppled Assad.Sharaa, who was imprisoned for years in Iraq on charges of belonging to Al-Qaeda following the 2003 US-led invasion, will miss Baghdad’s summit after several powerful Iraqi politicians voiced opposition to his visit.Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani will represent Damascus instead.The summit also comes amid Iran’s ongoing nuclear talks with the United States.Trump has pursued diplomacy with Iran as he seeks to stave off a threatened military strike by Israel on Iran — a desire shared by many of the region’s leaders.On Thursday, Trump said a deal was “getting close”, but by Friday, he was warning that “something bad is going to happen” if the Iranians do not move fast.