Latest developments in Israel-Hamas war

Fighting raged on Sunday in the Gaza Strip in the third month of war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.

Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 240 hostages -- 137 of whom remain in Gaza, Israeli officials say.

In response, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and launched a military offensive in Gaza that has killed at least 17,700 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

During a seven-day truce that expired on December 1, Gaza militants released 105 hostages including dozens of Israelis freed in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

On day 65 of the war, here are five key developments from the past 24 hours:

'Violent raids' in south

Hamas said Sunday that Israel had launched a series of "very violent raids" targeting the southern city of Khan Yunis and the road from there to Rafah, near the border with Egypt.

A source close to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another militant group, told AFP that both were engaged in "fierce clashes" with Israeli forces near Khan Yunis.

Qatar says mediation ongoing

Mediation efforts are continuing to secure a new Gaza ceasefire despite ongoing Israeli bombardment that is "narrowing the window" for a successful outcome, Qatar's prime minister said Sunday.

"Our efforts as the state of Qatar along with our partners are continuing. We are not going to give up," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told the Doha Forum.

UN Security Council 'paralysed'

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the Security Council was "paralysed by geostrategic divisions" that were undermining solutions to the Israel-Hamas fighting.

The body's "authority and credibility were severely undermined" by its delayed response to the war, he said two days after a US veto prevented a resolution calling for a ceasefire.

"I reiterated my appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared," he told the Doha Forum.

"Regrettably, the Security Council failed to do it," he added. "I can promise, I will not give up."

Hostages recount captivity

Hundreds of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday to call for the release of the 137 people officials say are still being held captive in Gaza, in a rally featuring video testimonies by freed hostages.

Margalit Moses, 77, said she was hauled off to a tunnel under Gaza, where one of her Hamas guards took away a machine she used to help her breathe at night.

"Forty-nine days I did not sleep," she said. 

Another former hostage, 18-year-old Itay Regev, said that in captivity "every day feels like an eternity".

Aid 'well below' pre-war levels

The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said 100 trucks carrying aid entered Gaza from Egypt on Saturday, "well below" the daily average before the war.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, said that "food, water and fuel are being systematically used as weapons of war in Gaza".

In an article published Saturday by the Los Angeles Times, Lazzarini charged that "Hamas has absolved itself of any responsibility toward the civilian population" while "Israel has imposed a near-total siege on Gaza -- inflicting collective punishment on more than 2 million people, half of whom are children".