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

Another 9,500 Palestinians were injured as a result The Israeli military operation in the north A medical source told Al Jazeera on Sunday that its release began in early October.

On Sunday, the Gaza government media office described the Israeli blockade as “the most horrific form of ethnic cleansing, displacement and destruction” that has affected hundreds of thousands in the war-torn region.

Al Jazeera’s Hind Khudari, from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, said northern Gaza was now a “ghost zone” filled with devastation and massive rubble, but some people had managed to survive there, refusing to leave.

“We are witnessing Palestinians being systematically targeted everywhere in the Gaza Strip. It doesn’t matter where you are – if you are in a school, a shelter, a temporary camp or even a hospital,” she said.

Kamal Adwan Hospital was the most prominent health care facility in the north Burned and destroyed Which was implemented by Israeli forces in late December as part of the siege, and the fate of its detained director, Hossam Abu Safiya, remains unknown.

While Israeli politicians and settler groups openly discuss the prospects for this Building settlements in northern GazaThe siege shows no signs of stopping.

Eyewitnesses said, Sunday afternoon, that Israeli occupation forces killed two Palestinians in the Intelligence District, north of Gaza City. Later, Israeli drone fire killed a young man in Al-Shati refugee camp.

At night, Israeli occupation aircraft launched violent attacks on areas northwest of Gaza City. At least eight Palestinians were killed on Saturday when the Israeli army directly bombed another school-turned-shelter in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, describing it as a Hamas “command and control center.”

At least 70 children were killed in five days

The ongoing attacks also target others areas throughout the enclave several times each dayThe most recent of which was the attack on the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Today, Sunday, the Israeli occupation army issued another forced eviction order, targeting residents of residential communities in the northern part of the Nuseirat refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip. Residents were told they would risk being killed if they did not leave the area.

Gaza Civil Defense announced on Sunday that the Israeli army had killed at least 70 children across the Strip during the past five days alone.

The escalation of Israeli attacks comes at a time when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allowed the heads of the spy and security services Mossad and Shin Bet to travel to Qatar with other senior representatives to advance negotiations on the release of prisoners detained in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners.

US President Joe Biden spoke with Netanyahu on Sunday, the White House said, as US officials try to reach an agreement on Gaza prisoners and a ceasefire agreement before Biden leaves office on January 20.

The statement said that Biden “stressed the immediate need for a ceasefire in Gaza and the return of the hostages, along with increased humanitarian aid provided by the cessation of fighting under the agreement.”

Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told CNN’s State of the Union earlier Sunday that the two sides were “very close” to reaching an agreement, but still had to get it across the finish line.

But Israeli leaders stressed that the war would not end even if an agreement was reached, and that they would maintain military control over the Strip, even as they continued to control the Strip. Occupation of the West BankLarge parts of Syria and areas in southern Lebanon.

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

Netanyahu was striving on Sunday to ensure that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir do not threaten the stability of his ruling coalition by abandoning him if an agreement is reached.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire, as the Israeli military continues to prevent most aid from entering while creating an unsafe situation that has worsened the situation. It enabled armed looting of aid convoys.

Thousands of families are forced to brave the open air or take shelter in ramshackle tents amid famine-like conditions across Gaza, while Israeli forces continue to attack hospitals and order them to evacuate.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), almost all of Gaza’s 1.1 million children need mental health and psychosocial support amid ongoing Israeli bombing, repeated displacement, and disastrous living conditions in the cold of winter.

United Nations estimates indicate that at least 19,000 Palestinian children have been orphaned since the start of the war on Gaza, which has now entered its sixteenth month.

The Israeli army has killed at least 203 journalists since the start of the war, including several in the new year.

The Gaza Health Ministry said on Sunday that Israel has killed at least 46,565 Palestinians and wounded 109,660 so far, including 28 killed in the past day.