Palestinians in Gaza mark Eid-ul-Fitr

Deir Al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Mar. 31: Palestinians in the Gaza Strip had little to celebrate on Sunday as they began marking a normally festive Muslim holiday with rapidly dwindling food supplies and no end in sight to the Israel-Hamas war. Israeli strikes overnight into Sunday killed at least 19 people, mostly women and children, health officials said.

Many held prayers outside demolished mosques on the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. It's supposed to be a joyous occasion, when families gather for feasts and purchase new clothes for children — but most of Gaza's 2 million Palestinians are just trying to survive.

"It's the Eid of sadness," Adel al-Shaer said after attending outdoor prayers in the central town of Deir al-Balah. "We lost our loved ones, our children, our lives, and our futures. We lost our students, our schools, and our institutions. We lost everything."

Twenty members of his extended family have been killed in Israeli strikes, including four young nephews just a few days ago, he said as he broke into tears.

Israel ended the ceasefire with Hamas and resumed the 17-month war earlier this month when the militant group refused to accept changes to the agreement reached in January. Israeli strikes have killed hundreds of Palestinians, and Israel has allowed no food, fuel or humanitarian aid to enter for four weeks.

"There is killing, displacement, hunger, and a siege," said Saed al-Kourd, a worshipper. "We go out to perform God's rituals in order to make the children happy, but as for the joy of Eid? There is no Eid."

Arab mediators are trying to get the truce back on track, and Hamas said Saturday that it had accepted a new proposal from Egypt and Qatar, the exact details of which were not immediately known. Israel said it had advanced its own proposal in coordination with the United States, which has also been mediating.

Netanyahu lays out conditions for ending the war

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would continue its military operations while negotiating. He rejected claims that Israel does not want to end the war while laying out conditions that go far beyond the signed ceasefire agreement and have been rejected by Hamas.

"Hamas will disarm. Its leaders will be allowed out. We will look out for the general security in the Gaza Strip and allow for the realization of (President Donald) Trump's plan, the voluntary emigration plan," Netanyahu said at the start of a Cabinet meeting.

Trump has proposed that Gaza's population be resettled in other countries so the U.S. can redevelop Gaza for others. Palestinians have universally rejected the proposal, saying they do not want to leave their homeland, and human rights experts say the plan would likely violate international law.

Israeli strikes on Sunday killed at least 16 people, including nine children and three women, according to Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. Two of the children, young girls, appeared to be wearing new clothes purchased for the holiday, according to an Associated Press cameraman.

Another three people were killed in a strike in Deir al-Balah late Saturday, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.(AP)