Gaza massacre toll tops 25,000; Hamas defends Oct 7 attacks on Israel

Palestinian resistance movement Hamas on Sunday defended its October 7 attacks on Israel but admitted to "faults" and called for an end to "Israeli aggression" in Gaza, where the health ministry said the death toll passed 25,000.
Southern Gaza is the latest focus of Israel's battle to destroy the resistance movement.
In its first public report, Hamas said the October 7 attacks were a "necessary step" against Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, and a way to secure release of Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government would not accept Hamas's conditions for releasing hostages still held in Gaza. "If we accept this, we won't be able to guarantee the safety of our citizens," he said.
Hamas said in the report its fighters were committed to "Islamic values", and if civilians were targeted "it happened accidentally and in the course of the confrontation with the occupation forces."
Israel's military offensive has killed at least 25,105 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the latest toll issued yesterday by the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Israeli vessels were bombarding Gaza City and other areas in the north early yesterday. Hamas has also reported heavy combat in the north.
Netanyahu is under intense pressure to return the hostages and account for security failings surrounding the October attacks.
The United Nations says about 1.7mn people have been displaced in Gaza, with about one million crowded into the Rafah area of Gaza's south near Egypt.
UN agencies have warned better aid access is needed urgently as famine and disease loom. Gazans are also struggling with shortages of water, medical care and other essentials.
With fuel scarce, they have increasingly turned to donkey carts for transport.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh held a meeting with the Turkish foreign minister, diplomatic sources said. Among their discussion was "a two-state solution for a permanent peace," one of the sources said.
The United States and Arab countries are also seeking such a solution involving Palestinian statehood, but Netanyahu has rejected it, saying "Israel must retain security control over Gaza".
Hamas in its report rejected any international and Israeli efforts to decide Gaza's post-war future.
Israel's northern border with Lebanon has seen near-daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.
An Israeli drone strike on a car in southern Lebanon killed two Hezbollah fighters, a source said.
The White House said it was taking "extremely seriously" a weekend attack by Iran-backed militants using "multiple ballistic missiles and rockets" against a base hosting US forces in Iraq.
Dozens of such attacks in Iraq and Syria have taken place since mid-October and most have been claimed by militants opposing US support for Israel, but the use of ballistic missiles marked an escalation.