Israel’s war on the Gaza strop completed six months on Sunday, with over 30,000 Palestinians killed since the siege began.

However, hostilities do not seem to be stopping as Israel presses on its siege of Rafah. Meanwhile, Hamas claimed it had killed another 14 Isreali soldiers inside the strip.

Gaza authorities say most of the Palestinian detah toll is made up of civilians.

Hamas on Saturday said its fighters targeted three Israeli tanks in Khan Younis with missiles, inflicting casualties. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, though it said earlier that troops had engaged with gunmen in the area.

The World Health Organisation said its team had managed to reach Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where Israeli special forces conducted a two-week raid against suspected militants, leaving a wasteland of destroyed buildings.

The team saw at least five dead bodies at the complex, most of which had suffered extensive destruction. “Even restoring minimal functionality in the short term seems implausible,” said a statement from WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Al-Shifa, the Gaza Strip’s biggest hospital before the war, was one of the few healthcare facilities that had been partially operational in the north of enclave before the raid. Angered by an Israeli air strike that killed aid workers in Gaza, U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday urged an “immediate ceasefire” and for Israel to boost humanitarian relief measures.

Israel approved the reopening of the Erez crossing into northern Gaza and the temporary use of its Ashdod port following the U.S. criticism, measures welcomed on Saturday by U.N. aid coordinator Jamie McGoldrick.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid told N12’s Meet the Press on Saturday that he was travelling to Washington where he will meet U.S. officials next week. The Biden administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether senior officials will meet Lapid.

Hamas said it would send a delegation to Cairo on Sunday for a new round of mediated talks. Israel was undecided on whether to attend, an Israeli official said, citing concern that the event would be “more political theatre than actual progress”.

Hamas wants any deal to bring about an end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israel has said that, after any truce, it would topple Hamas, which is sworn to its destruction.

A rally in Jerusalem calling on leaders to secure a hostage release was set to take place on Sunday, which marks six months since the Oct. 7 attack, and anti-government protesters in Tel Aviv on Saturday called for an election.

In a Jan. 8 video posted by Islamic Jihad online, Katzir said: “I was close to dying more than once. It’s a miracle I’m still alive … I want to tell my family that I love them very much and I miss them very much.”

Based on various sources of information, Israel has declared at least 35 hostages as dead in Gaza captivity. Palestinian factions have said some were killed in Israeli strikes. While confirming this in several cases, Israel says that, in others, hostages whose bodies were recovered bore signs of execution.