KEY POINTS
- An Israeli airstrike on a multi-story building in northern Gaza killed 25 people.
- Israel’s bombardment campaign in Gaza has killed at least 44,786 people since October 7, 2023.
- Mediation efforts by Egypt, Qatar, and the US have yet to produce a ceasefire, but there are signs of potential progress.
GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defence agency said Tuesday that Israeli strikes in the north of the Palestinian territory had killed 25 people, including women and children.
“At 8:00 PM (1800 GMT) last night, Israeli strikes targeted a multi-story building belonging to the Al-Kahlut family, killing 25 people. Sixteen bodies have been identified, while others remain trapped under the rubble,” civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP, adding five women and five children were among the dead.
The Israeli army did not comment on the strike.
Bassal said, “residents, without adequate support, are attempting to rescue those still buried”.
The north of the Gaza Strip has been the focus of an intense Israeli military operation for more than two months, which the army says is intended to prevent Hamas fighters from regrouping there.
The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has launched a relentless bombardment campaign in Gaza killing at least 44,786 people, mostly women and children.
The toll includes 28 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 106,188 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.
Ceasefire efforts by mediators Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, have failed to find agreement, but recent signs of optimism among Israeli and Palestinian officials have suggested a deal to end the war could be closer.
On Monday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas’ increasing isolation after the downfall of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad could open the door to a deal to return hostages but it was too early to say if efforts would succeed.
ALSO READ: Gaza Ceasefire Talks Advance as Death Toll Surpasses 44,758
On Tuesday, a Hamas official declined to disclose the content of negotiations but told Reuters that mediators had recently stepped up their efforts, citing the group’s willingness to show the flexibility needed “to end the aggression on our people.”
A Palestinian official with knowledge of the mediation effort said Hamas had asked other Gaza factions to list the names of Israeli and foreign hostages in their custody, whether dead or alive, signalling potential progress in the talks, Arab News reported.
Hamas wants a deal that ends the war and sees the release of Israeli and foreign hostages held captive in Gaza as well as Palestinians jailed by Israel, while Netanyahu has vowed the war can only end once Hamas is eradicated.
