Israeli airstrikes kill 38 Palestinians in Gaza as truce negotiating team heads to Qatar
U.S. President Donald Trump, who will meet with Netanyahu on Monday, has floated a plan for an initial 60-day ceasefire that would include a partial release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for an increase in humanitarian supplies allowed into Gaza. The proposed truce calls for talks on ending the 21-month war altogether.
Separately, an Israeli official said the security Cabinet late Saturday approved sending aid into northern Gaza, where civilians suffer from acute food shortages. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the decision with the media, declined to give more details.
Northern Gaza has seen just a trickle of aid enter since Israel ended the latest ceasefire in March. The Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation 's closest aid distribution site is near the Netzarim corridor south of Gaza City that separates the territory's north and south.
In Yemen, a spokesperson for the Iran-backed Houthi rebels announced in a prerecorded message that the group had launched ballistic missiles targeting Israel's Ben Gurion airport overnight. Israel's military said they were intercepted.
Israel hits 130 targets across Gaza
Israeli strikes hit two houses in Gaza City, killing 20 Palestinians and wounding 25 others, according to Mohammed Abu Selmia, director of Shifa Hospital, which serves the area.
In southern Gaza, Israeli strikes killed 18 Palestinians in Muwasi, an area on the Mediterranean coast where thousands of displaced people live in tents, officials at Nasser Hospital in the nearby city of Khan Younis told The Associated Press. It said two families were among the dead.
'My brother, his wife, his four children, my cousin's son and his daughter. ... Eight people are gone,' said Saqer Abu Al-Kheir as people gathered on the sand for prayers and burials.
Israel's military had no immediate comment on the individual strikes but said it struck 130 targets across Gaza in the past 24 hours. It claimed its strikes targeted Hamas command and control structures, storage facilities, weapons and launchers, and that they killed a number of militants in northern Gaza.
Rift over ending the war
Ahead of the indirect talks with Hamas in Qatar, Netanyahu's office asserted that the militant group was seeking 'unacceptable' changes to the ceasefire proposal.
Hamas, which gave a 'positive' response late Friday to the latest U.S. proposal, has sought guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Previous negotiations have stalled over Hamas demands of guarantees that further negotiations would lead to the war's end, while Netanyahu has insisted Israel would resume fighting to ensure the group's destruction.
The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
The ministry, which is under Gaza's Hamas government, does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. The U.N. and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
___
Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Tia Goldenberg contributed from Tel Aviv, Israel.
___
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
19 minutes ago
- Sky News
IDF blames 'technical error' after Gaza officials say children killed collecting water
The Israeli military says it missed its intended target after Gaza officials said 10 Palestinians - including six children - were killed in a strike at a water collection point. Another 17 people were wounded in the strike on a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al Awda Hospital. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant but a "technical error with the munition" had caused the missile to fall "dozens of metres from the target". The IDF said the incident is under review, adding that it "works to mitigate harm to uninvolved civilians as much as possible" and "regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians". Ramadan Nassar, who lives in the area, said around 20 children and 14 adults were lined up Sunday morning to fill up water. When the strike occurred, everyone ran and some, including those who were severely injured, fell to the ground, he said. In total, 19 people were killed in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, local health officials said. Two women and three children were among nine killed after an Israeli strike on a home in the central town of Zawaida, officials at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said. Israel has claimed it hit more than 150 targets in the besieged enclave in the past day. The latest strikes come after the Israel military opened fire near an aid centre in Rafah on Saturday. The Red Cross said 31 people were killed. The IDF has said it fired "warning shots" near the aid distribution site but it was "not aware of injured individuals" as a result. 1:23 The war in Gaza started in response to Hamas's attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people and saw about 250 taken hostage. More than 58,000 Palestinians have since been killed, with more than half being women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. US President Donald Trump has said he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war. But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there were no signs of a breakthrough, as a new sticking point emerged over the deployment of Israeli troops during the truce. Hamas still holds 50 hostages, with fewer than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
ITV News
25 minutes ago
- ITV News
Strike kills ten people collecting water in Gaza as total deaths in war top 58,000
Ten people, including six children, have been killed by an Israeli airstrike at a water distribution point in central Gaza, medical officials have said. It comes as Gaza's health ministry has said the total number of those killed in the territory since the conflict began in October 2023 has topped 58,000. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said the strike on Sunday morning, in al-Nuseirat refugee camp, was targeting an "Islamic Jihad terrorist" but had gone wrong. It said the "munition fell dozens of metres from the target", adding that the incident is now under review. Officials at Al-Awda Hospital said it had also received 16 injured people following the airstrike. Another 11 people were killed and more than 50 injured on Sunday further north in central Gaza City when an Israeli airstrike targeted a crowded junction, according to Civil Defence officials. The IDF said on Sunday that it had destroyed weapons and tunnels used by Hamas in northern Gaza and the air force had carried out attacks on more than 150 targets across the Gaza Strip, including 'booby-trapped buildings, weapons depots, anti-tank missile and sniper positions'. Earlier on Sunday, before the strike on al-Nuseirat, the Palestinian health ministry reported that 139 bodies had been brought to Gaza hospitals in the past 24 hours, with a number of victims still under the rubble. It was the highest number reported since July 2. The ministry said the latest casualties brought the total number of people killed since October 7, 2023 to 58,026. There are no signs of progress during ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington last week to discuss the deal with the Trump administration, but a new sticking point has emerged over the deployment of Israeli troops during the truce. Israel says it will only end the war once Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile, something it refuses to do. Hamas says it is willing to free all the remaining 50 hostages, less than half said to be alive, in exchange for an end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces. The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Glasgow Times
41 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Six children among 10 people killed at water collection point by Israeli strike
Israel and Hamas appeared no closer to a breakthrough in talks meant to pause the 21-month war and free some Israeli hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington last week to discuss the deal with the Trump administration, but a new sticking point has emerged over the deployment of Israeli troops during the truce, raising questions over the feasibility of a new deal. Israel wants to keep forces in what it says is an important land corridor in southern Gaza. Hamas views the insistence on troops in that strip of land as an indication that Israel intends to continue the war once a temporary ceasefire expires. Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip attend a rally demanding their release from Hamas captivity in Tel Aviv, Israel (Oded Balilty/AP) Israel says it will only end the war once Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile, something it refuses to do. Hamas says it is willing to free all the remaining 50 hostages, less than half said to be alive, in exchange for an end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces. Throughout the war in Gaza, violence has also surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where funerals were held Sunday for two Palestinians, including Palestinian-American Sayfollah Musallet, 20, who was killed in an attack by Israeli settlers, according to the Palestinian health ministry. In Gaza, officials at Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza said it received 10 bodies after an Israeli strike on a water collection point in Nuseirat, also in central Gaza. Among the dead were six children, the hospital said. The Israeli military said it struck more than 150 targets over the past day, without commenting directly on the specific strikes. Israel blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the militant group operates out of populated areas. In the October 7 2023 attack that sparked the war, Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 251. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry. The ministry, under Gaza's Hamas-run government, does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
