At least eight people were killed in an Israeli attack on a school housing displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza, as Israel sent several senior officials to negotiate a possible ceasefire.
An Israeli strike on Saturday hit the Zainab al-Wazir school in the Jabalia al-Balad area of northern Gaza, killing eight civilians, including two women and two children, according to the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service.
“The Israelis targeted us without any prior warning,” one mother told Al Jazeera as she searched through the debris. “They attacked us with a missile. I don’t know where our children are. I don’t know anything about them, whether they were wounded or killed.”
Al Jazeera journalist Moath al-Kahlout described the scenes at al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City, where dozens of wounded were taken, as “bloody” and “terrible”, highlighting the lack of medical supplies during Israel’s ongoing siege of northern Gaza. more than 80 days.
Later on Saturday, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported attacks in various locations across Gaza, including an attack on a house in the Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City, which killed four Palestinians and wounded several others.
Israeli warplanes also bombed a tent housing displaced families in Deir el-Balah, located in the center of the enclave, killing three people, Wafa reported.
Additional strikes reportedly killed one person near the Bureij refugee camp, also in central Gaza, and another in the southern town of Khan Younis.
The increased attacks came as Egypt, Qatar and the United States renewed efforts to reach an agreement to end fighting in Gaza and release remaining Israeli prisoners in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.
‘Difficult untouchable points’
On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who traveled to Qatar earlier this week.
Witkoff assured Egyptian and Qatari mediators that the US would continue to work to reach a fair deal to end the war soon, Egyptian security sources quoted by the Reuters news agency said.
After the meeting, Netanyahu sent a high-level delegation, including the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, to Qatar to “advance” the talks, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office.
“There are a lot of moving parts here,” said Al Jazeera reporter Hamdah Salhut, reporting from the Jordanian capital of Amman.
“Donald Trump has said that he would be quite aggressive in trying to get a ceasefire if it doesn’t happen before he takes office… But you have to remember that there are grave concerns on every side,” she said.
“The Israelis say they will not end the war, and Hamas says they want to see a comprehensive ceasefire that includes an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
“You also have the Israeli public, who are constantly demonstrating against Benjamin Netanyahu, against the Israeli government, saying that he is neither able nor willing to make a deal fifteen months into this war,” she said.
Families of Israeli prisoners welcomed Netanyahu’s decision to send officials, with the headquarters of the Forum for Hostages and Missing Families describing it as a “historic occasion”.
‘Impossible to stay alive’
As mediators prepare for further ceasefire talks, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said Palestinians under attack in Gaza are also struggling with severe food shortages, while Israel continues to ignore United Nations demands to lift restrictions on supplies entering the Strip.
“Every day we see children with empty pots looking for a communal kitchen, talking to families who say they can barely feed their children one meal a day,” said Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah.
“It is not just the continuous airstrikes, but also the malnutrition that is killing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” she said.
Vibe Klarup, head of Amnesty Denmark, said that Israel is committing “genocide”.
“When we say that Israel is committing genocide, that’s not an opinion, that’s a conclusion based on a legal, thorough analysis,” she said at The European Palestinian Network conference in Copenhagen.
“Everything is impossible to survive in the Gaza Strip… Our role as people is to stop the genocide,” she added.
At least 46,537 people have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, according to Palestinian health authorities.
