US and Arab mediators are working round-the-clock to hammer out a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, sources close to the talks said, while in the Gaza Strip medics said Israeli strikes had killed 41 Palestinians on Thursday.
The mediators, at talks in Egypt and Qatar, seek to forge a deal to pause the 14-month-old war in the Hamas-ruled enclave that would include a release of hostages seized from Israel on October 7th, 2023, along with Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Mediators had managed to narrow some gaps on previous sticking points but differences remained, the sources said.
In Gaza, medics said at least 13 Palestinians were killed overnight in separate Israeli air strikes, including on two houses in Gaza City and a central camp.
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Eight people in Gaza refugee camp among 15 killed in latest strikes by Israel
Medics said an Israeli airstrike killed nine people near Beach refugee camp in Gaza City, while another killed four others at a housing project near Beit Lahiya in the north. There was no Israeli comment.
Later on Thursday, air strikes killed at least 15 Palestinians in two shelters housing displaced families in eastern Gaza City’s suburb of Tuffah, medics said, bringing Thursday’s death toll to 41.
The Israeli military said it struck Hamas militants operating in command and control complexes in areas that were previously used as the Al-Karama and Sha’ban Schools in Tuffah. It said Hamas used the complexes to plan and execute attacks against its forces.
Residents of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, where the army has operated since October, said forces blew up clusters of houses overnight.
“The longer those talks last, the more destruction and death takes place in Gaza. Jabalia, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahiya are being wiped out, Rafah too,” said Adel (60) a resident of Jabalia, who is now displaced in Gaza City.
At least six Palestinians were killed in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, including militant fighters and an 80-year-old woman shot in the chest by Israeli forces, the Palestinian health ministry said.
The latest deaths add to a growing toll in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza more than a year ago triggered a surge in violence that has killed hundreds of Palestinians and dozens of Israelis.
A report by Médecins Sans Frontières on Thursday said there were clear signs of ethnic cleansing in Israel’s Gaza offensive as Palestinians were forcibly displaced and bombed.
“The signs of ethnic cleansing and the ongoing devastation – including mass killings, severe physical and mental health injuries, forced displacement, and impossible conditions of life for Palestinians under siege and bombardment – are undeniable,” the aid group’s head Christopher Lockyear said in the report.
“Palestinians have been killed in their homes and in hospital beds...People cannot find even the most basic necessities like food, clean water, medicines, and soap amid a punishing siege and blockade,” MSF said.
There was no immediate Israeli comment on the MSF report but Israel has previously denied carrying out ethnic cleansing and says its campaign aims to wipe out Hamas and prevent it from regrouping.
Israel accuses Hamas of exploiting civilian infrastructure and the population as a human shield for its activities. Hamas denies it and accuses Israel of trying to justify the indiscriminate killing of Palestinian civilians.
Sources close to the mediation efforts said Hamas had pushed for a one-package deal but Israel wanted a phased one. Talks are focused on a first-phase release of hostages, dead or alive, as well as a number of Palestinians jailed by Israel.
[ Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deals: What are the outstanding issues?Opens in new window ]
On Tuesday, the sides discussed the numbers and categories of those to be released, but things have yet to be finalised, said a source who spoke anonymously because of the sensitivity of the talks.
The source said one issue was Israel’s demand to retain the right to act against any possible military threat from Gaza and the stationing of Israeli forces during phases of the deal.
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday Israel will have security control over Gaza with full freedom of action after defeating Hamas in the enclave.
Israel launched its air and ground assault on Gaza after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israeli communities 14 months ago, killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel says about 100 hostages are still being held, but it is unclear how many are alive.
Israel’s campaign has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, displaced most of the 2.3 million population and reduced much of the coastal enclave to ruins.
Earlier on Thursday, Israel launched strikes against ports and energy infrastructure in Houthi-held parts of Yemen and threatened more attacks against the Iran-aligned militant group, which has launched hundreds of missiles at Israel over the past year.
As Israeli jets were in the air, the Israeli military said it intercepted a missile headed towards central Israel which destroyed a school building in the town of Ramat Efal with what a military spokesperson described as falling shrapnel.
The Israeli attack, involving 14 fighter jets and other aircraft, came in two waves, with a first series of strikes on the ports of Salif and Ras Issa and a second series hitting the capital Sanaa, military spokesperson Lieut ColNadav Shoshani told reporters.
“We made extensive preparations for these operations with efforts to refine our intelligence and to optimise the strikes,” he said.
Al Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by the Houthis, said the air strikes killed nine people, seven in Salif and two in the Ras Issa oil facility, both in the western province of Hodeidah.
In Sanaa, the strikes also targeted two central power stations south and north of the capital, Sanaa, which Al Masirah said had cut electricity to thousands of families.
The Israeli attacks followed a strike on Monday by US aircraft against a command and control facility operated by the Houthis, which control much of Yemen.
The Houthis – who have launched attacks on international shipping near Yemen since November last year, in solidarity with Palestinians in Israel’s war with Hamas – said they had targeted the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on the same night with two ballistic missiles and hit “precise military targets”.
They also vowed to respond to the Israeli attacks. – Reuters