Dozens of Israeli airstrikes hit the Gaza Strip over the weekend as Israeli and Hamas officials continued to negotiate an indirect ceasefire through Qatari intermediaries.
The Israeli military said Sunday that it attacked more than 100 targets across the enclave over the weekend, including where militants fired at least four projectiles into Israeli territory on Friday and Saturday. The airstrike killed a Hamas militant and the military said it had taken steps to reduce the risk of harm to civilians. These claims could not be independently verified.
The Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that 88 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours. The ministry’s figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Emergency services agency Gaza Civil Defense said its members responded to multiple airstrikes on a family’s home on Sunday, killing and wounding several people.
Pressure is mounting on both sides to reach a ceasefire agreement that includes the release of hostages being held in Gaza before President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office on January 20. Hamas and Israel both said they were sending delegations to the Gaza Strip. He has been meeting with mediators in the Qatari capital Doha in recent days.
The Israeli delegation remained in Doha over the weekend, according to an Israeli official familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the secret talks. The official said talks in Doha were making slow progress and included a limited agreement to suspend fighting and release some Israeli hostages in exchange for the large number of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. He said he aims to reach a consensus.
About 100 hostages are still being held in Gaza, out of about 250 people captured in the October 2023 Hamas-led attack that sparked the war. It is estimated that at least a third of them died.
A one-week ceasefire in November 2023 allowed the release of 105 hostages, but efforts to reach a ceasefire have since stalled due to differences in demands from both sides. Both sides blame the other for not reaching an agreement.
Israeli officials recently said they believed Hamas was rebuilding its power in Gaza. And the group appears to be recruiting new fighters faster than Israel can eliminate them.
According to security officials, He told an Israeli parliamentary committee last week. Hamas reportedly has up to 19,000 fighters, about 9,000 of whom are in organized forces. Before the war, Israel estimated the number of Hamas fighters at about 25,000, but Hamas did not confirm that number.
Mr. Netanyahu said In November, it was announced that Israeli forces had killed nearly 20,000 fighters.
In total, more than 45,000 Palestinians were killed during the war, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
And as hopes for a limited ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas rise again, Palestinians and human rights groups say the humanitarian situation in Gaza is becoming even more desperate.
Palestine Red Crescent Society said on sunday The Israeli military conducted a nighttime airstrike near Al-Amal Hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis, severely damaging several hospital facilities and killing one person.
Last week, Israeli forces raided Kamal Adwan, the last remaining major hospital in northern Gaza, and forcibly evacuated staff and patients. The Israeli military said Kamal Adwan is a Hamas stronghold and was carrying out “targeted operations” in the area.
The hospital had become the main medical provider in the northernmost part of the Gaza Strip amid a months-long Israeli military offensive against what is believed to be a resurgent Hamas group.
world health organization said It said the attack on Kamal Adwan had “suspended the last major medical facility in northern Gaza” and that the remaining patients, caregivers and health workers had been transferred to Indonesian hospitals.
But on Sunday, the Gaza Ministry of Health announced that Indonesian hospitals in northern Gaza were no longer serving patients and the injured, leaving the northern enclave without a functioning hospital amid near-constant bombing.
aaron boxerman contributed to this report.
