Dozens of Israeli strikes hit the Gaza Strip over the weekend as Israeli and Hamas officials continued indirect ceasefire talks mediated by Qatar.
Israel’s military said Sunday it hit more than 100 targets across the enclave over the weekend, including sites from which militants fired missiles into Israeli territory. It said the strikes killed Hamas militants and that the military had taken measures to mitigate the risk of civilian casualties. The claims could not be independently verified.
The Gaza Health Ministry announced on Sunday that 88 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours. Gaza Civil Defense, emergency services agencyannounced that his crews responded to multiple airstrikes on family homes on Sunday that killed and wounded several people.
Pressure is mounting on both sides to reach a ceasefire agreement that would include the release of hostages held in Gaza before President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office on January 20.
On Friday night, Hamas said its officials would continue meetings in the Qatari capital Doha until reach an agreement on a ceasefire. And Israel said last week it was also sending a delegation of senior security officials to meet with mediators in Qatar.
A number of previous rounds of negotiations have failed due to gaps in the demands of the two sides. And while hopes for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas are rising again, Palestinians and human rights groups say humanitarian situation in Gaza it becomes even more desperate.
Palestine Red Crescent Society he said on Sunday that Israeli airstrikes near Al-Amal Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis overnight caused significant damage to several hospital facilities and killed one person.
Gaza’s health ministry said on Sunday that an Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza is no longer serving patients or the wounded – leaving the northern part of the enclave without a single functional hospital in the midst of constant bombardment.
The Israeli army has been conducting an offensive in the northern Gaza Strip for more than three months against what it says are resurgent Hamas forces.
Aaron Boxerman contributed to this report.
