Israel pounds Gaza as ceasefire prospects remain dim

Israel pounded Gaza Sunday with air strikes and shelling as prospects remained dim for a ceasefire, while in the evening the military said two rockets were fired from northern Gaza towards the area of Ashkelon.

One was intercepted, while the other fell off the coast of Ashkelon city, the army said.

Gaza's civil defense agency said nearly a dozen people were killed in Israeli air strikes on Sunday, including five in Jabalia refugee camp.

The Israeli military said it had struck around "25 Hamas targets" across Gaza over the past day.

- No respite for Gazans -

There has been no respite for the 2.4 million Palestinians living in Gaza, almost all of whom have been displaced at least once.

"Moving from one area to another is distressing because there is no safe place in Gaza," said Raeed Hamad, 51, a cancer patient from the southern city of Khan Yunis.

"We are displaced under heavy bombardments... I have lost weight and I'm exhausted."

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant toured the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza on Sunday, where he vowed again to eliminate Hamas.

But he said the military was focusing on the northern front also, where Hezbollah and Israeli forces traded fire on Sunday.

"While you are fighting here in Gaza, we are preparing for anything that may happen in the north," Gallant told soldiers, according to a statement issued by his office.

"The shift of the center of gravity can happen quickly and can also involve you in a short period of time."

Hamas is demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as part of a ceasefire deal, but Israel insists troops must remain along the Gaza-Egypt border.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt have all been mediating in efforts to forge a ceasefire.

Israeli protesters numbering in the tens of thousands have for weeks mounted pressure on the government, demanding a deal that would mean the release of hostages.

A smaller crowd of several hundred people gathered in Tel Aviv on Sunday night holding Israeli flags and signs demanding the government "stop the war" and free the hostages.

"We will not leave them in Gaza," they chanted, some pounding on drums. "We will not leave them down there... We don't want more deaths, it's time for agreements."

International pressure to end the war has also intensified after Friday's fatal shooting in the West Bank of Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was demonstrating against Israeli settlements in the territory.

Her family, Turkey and the U.N. rights office all said Israeli forces killed her. Israel's military said the incident is under review.