DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (news agencies) — Israeli airstrikes killed at least 15 people including a child early Saturday in southern Gaza, hospital staff said, while a new effort at ceasefire talks was said to be underway in Qatar.
A small boy cried over his father, and a woman draped herself over one of the bodies wrapped in white plastic. The three airstrikes hit a car, a house and people on the street in the city of Khan Younis, according to staff at Nasser Hospital.
And the Civil Defense, first responders affiliated with the Hamas-run government, said an airstrike destroyed a residential area behind the Saraya complex in Gaza City, killing at least five people.
There was no immediate comment from Israel’s military.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 59 people had been killed and more than 270 injured by strikes in the past 24 hours.
There were no immediate statements on the indirect negotiations in Qatar’s capital, Doha, toward a ceasefire after nearly 15 months of war. The Hamas militant group on Friday said talks had resumed and added that it was committed to reaching an agreement. It warned against misinformation, which it said can undermine public confidence.
The talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly stalled as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to press on in Gaza until Hamas is destroyed. Fighters with Hamas, which wants Israeli forces out of Gaza completely, continue to regroup in areas where Israeli forces withdraw.
The war is by far the deadliest round of fighting between Israel and Hamas. It began when Hamas and other militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Around 100 hostages are still in Gaza, at least a third believed to be dead.
Families of hostages and others have rallied weekly for months to press Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire deal that would bring loved ones home.
In a video released by Hamas on Saturday ahead of the latest weekly rally, Israeli soldier and hostage Liri Albag, speaking under duress, expressed anguish over her situation and mentioned being held 450 days.
“Today is the beginning of a new year; the whole world is celebrating. Only we are entering a dark year, a year of loneliness,” she said. She also said a fellow captive had been injured by the fighting in Gaza, adding, “We are living in an extremely terrifying nightmare.” She did not name the person injured.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 45,717 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which says women and children make up more than half the dead. The ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. It says uncounted bodies remain beneath rubble or in areas where emergency responders cannot reach.
Israel’s military says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in dense residential areas. The army says it has killed 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The war has caused widespread destruction and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, many of them multiple times. Winter has now arrived, and hundreds of thousands are sheltering in tents near the sea. A small number of children have died from exposure to the cold.
Meanwhile, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, relatives mourned an 18-year-old Palestinian who the Palestinian Health Ministry said was killed Friday during clashes with Israel’s army in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus. The ministry said nine other people were injured.
Palestinian health officials have said Israeli raids throughout the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023, have killed more than 800 Palestinians. Israel says most of these are militants, but youths throwing stones and people not involved in confrontations have also been killed.
A fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has held up for over a month, although its terms seem unlikely to be met by the agreed-upon 60-day deadline. Israel and Hezbollah had exchanged fire almost daily since the war in Gaza began.
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