OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Gaza’s civil defence agency said Thursday more than 770 people have been killed in the north of the territory since Israel launched an assault aimed at preventing Hamas from regrouping there.

With Israel under pressure to end its wars with Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the United States said negotiators will meet in the coming days on reaching a truce in the Palestinian territory.

After nearly a year of war in Gaza sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, Israel expanded its focus to Lebanon last month, vowing to secure its northern border from Hezbollah attacks.

It has meanwhile kept up the pressure on Hamas, launching an operation earlier this month in the north of Gaza where tens of thousands of civilians are trapped.

“Since the start of the military operation in northern Gaza more than 770 people have been killed,” said Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the territory’s civil defence agency, adding that the toll could rise as there were people buried under the rubble. He also said a strike on a school-turned-shelter in central Gaza killed 17 people, while the Israeli military said it was targeting Hamas militants when it hit the site.

The civil defence agency also said on Thursday it can no longer provide first responder services in the north, accusing Israeli forces of threatening to “bomb and kill” its crews.

The Israeli military says the goal of its assault is to destroy the operational capabilities Hamas is trying to rebuild in the north.

It has repeatedly told people to evacuate, and to do so they must pass through army-manned checkpoints.