The series of airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip Saturday killed at least 36 Palestinians in an escalation that had been done while preparations were underway for high-level cease-fire negotiations in Egypt.
Also, among the dead, were 11 members of a single family, including two children, who were killed during an Israeli airstrike that hit a house in Khan Younis early today. The bodies were moved to Nasser Hospital, which said it received 33 bodies from three different strikes in and around Khan Younis. In the city, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital stated that three people were killed in an early morning strike.
The Israeli military has acknowledged the reports but has yet to provide a detailed comment.
Emergency responders recovered 16 bodies from the area of Hamad City in Khan Younis, as Israeli forces partly pulled back. The others included 10 killed in a residential building west of Khan Younis and two more in Rafah. The circumstances of their deaths were not fully clear but all of these areas have come under heavy bombardment by Israeli forces over the past week. The Associated Press tallied these casualties.
Talks of a possible cease-fire
Efforts are underway in Cairo to prepare the groundwork for top-level cease-fire negotiations planned for Sunday, bringing together Israeli, Palestinian, and other Arab officials, with the U.S., Egypt, and Qatar acting as mediators.
The U.S. delegation arrived in Cairo as the discussions resume this week over implementing a cease-fire in Gaza. A U.S. delegation, including President Biden’s top Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, and CIA Director William Burns, met in Cairo amid resumption, this week, of the discussions related to the implementation of a ceasefire in Gaza. This is the meeting that began on Thursday with additional mediators from Egypt and Israel, as earlier reported by CBS News.
Later, Burns and McGurk met with senior Egyptian officials and then with Egyptian and Qatari mediators, a source familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
A delegation from Israel arrived on Thursday. It is composed of David Barnea, head of Mossad; the head of Shin Bet security service; and Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano, a top general.
The White House said Friday that the talks have been constructive, but declined to describe them further.
A delegation from Hamas is due to arrive Saturday in Cairo for updates from mediators, according to a statement. A senior official from the group, Mahmoud Merdawy, told The Associated Press that Hamas will not directly attend the talks on Sunday, instead receiving briefings from Egypt and Qatar.
The US has submitted a bridging plan in an attempt to close gaps between Israel and Hamas amid mounting pressures for a truce. This comes amidst concerns of a wider regional conflict after the latest in targeted killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, reportedly by Israel.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that following up on the three-hour meeting last week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel agreed to the plan put forward, which included timelines and specific locations for the withdrawals of the IDF. Now, through his latest public comments, Netanyahu appears to backpedal on that agreement.
Wednesday, President Biden implored Netanyahu to pivot to a cease-fire and the release of hostages. Discussions with leaders Friday from Qatar and Egypt focused on just that.
Difficulties remain within the main technical aspects of the plan, and while the U.S. is optimistic this will yield a breakthrough, major points of divergence remain, notably the control of the Philadelphi corridor running alongside Gaza’s border with Egypt and the Netzarim corridor running east-west across the territory. Hamas insisted on a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Netanyahu wants to retain control of the corridors.
Last week, Hamas political official Bassem Naim said the working proposal then in play met Netanyahu’s condition, including Israeli control over the corridors. Ahead of Sunday’s talks, Merdawy said that Hamas’s stance remains unchanged calling for a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
History of the war in Gaza
Violence in Gaza erupted on October 7, following the surprise attack by Hamas and other armed groups against Israel, which killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Over 250 others were abducted and taken to Gaza as hostages. Last year, over 100 of those hostages were freed during a lull in fighting, but officials think about 110 are still being held there today. Of those, Israeli officials believe perhaps a third may be dead.
According to the Health Ministry run by Hamas, which has no separation between civilians and combatants in its count, military operations from Israel have taken more than 40,000 Palestinian lives. It has caused wide-scale destruction, with the bulk of Gaza’s 2.3 million population displaced from their homes.
- Israeli strikes Gaza,
- Gaza airstrikes,
- Gaza conflict news,
- Cease-fire talks preparation,
- High-level cease-fire negotiations,
- Gaza casualties,
- Middle East peace talks,
- Israeli military action,
- Gaza Strip news,
- US mediation Gaza,
- Egypt Qatar cease-fire talks,
- Israeli airstrikes August 2024,
- Gaza violence update,
- Israel Hamas conflict,
- Gaza humanitarian crisis,
