An Israeli air strike has flattened a three-storey home in Gaza City, killing 10 people – half of them children – as Arab mediators scrambled to restart a ceasefire.
Israeli strikes have killed at least 49 people in the past 24 hours, according to health officials.
The dead in the early morning air strike in an area in western Gaza City included three women and five children, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the bodies.
Israel’s military said that it had struck a Hamas militant and the structure where he operated collapsed, adding that the collapse was under review.
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“There is no one from the resistance among them,” said Saed Al-Khour, who lost his family in the strike.
“Since one o’clock until now we have been pulling out the remains of children, women and elderly people.”
Three other people were killed in the Shati refugee camp along Gaza City’s shoreline.
Hamas said on Saturday that it had sent a high-level delegation to Cairo to try to bring the ceasefire, shattered last month by Israeli bombardment, back on track.
Israel has vowed to continue the war until all hostages are returned and Hamas is destroyed or disarmed and sent into exile.
It says it will hold parts of Gaza indefinitely and implement US president Donald Trump’s proposal for the resettlement of the population in other countries, which has been widely rejected internationally.
Hamas said that it will only release the dozens of hostages it holds in return for Palestinian prisoners, a complete Israeli withdrawal and a lasting ceasefire, as called for in the now-defunct agreement reached in January.
Hamas said that its delegation will discuss with Egyptian officials the group’s vision to end the war, which also includes reconstruction.
Earlier this week, other Hamas officials arrived in Cairo to discuss a proposal that would include a five- to seven-year truce and the release of all remaining hostages, officials said.
Egypt and Qatar are developing the proposal, which would include the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners, officials said.
Israel has continued its nearly two-month blockade of Gaza, even as aid groups warn that supplies are dwindling.
On Friday, the World Food Programme said that its food stocks in Gaza had run out, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. It said the dozens of charity kitchens it supports are expected to run out of food in the coming days.
About 80 per cent of Gaza’s population of more than two million relies primarily on charity kitchens for food because other sources have shut down under Israel’s blockade, according to the United Nations.
“Meanwhile, nearly 3,000 Unrwa trucks of life-saving aid are ready to enter Gaza,” the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on social media. “The siege must stop.”
Hamas has called on the Trump administration to immediately reverse its decision that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees is not immune from being sued, calling it a dangerous step by Israel’s close ally.
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s ministry for health, which does not say how many of the dead were fighters or civilians. Israel says it has killed about 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7th 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251.
The militants still have 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
On Saturday, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas named a veteran aide and confidant as his new vice-president.
The appointment of Hussein al-Sheikh is a major step by the ageing leader towards designating a successor.
The move does not guarantee that Mr al-Sheikh, as vice-president of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), will be the next Palestinian president.
However, it makes him the front-runner among long-time politicians in the dominant Fatah party who hope to succeed the 89-year-old Mr Abbas.
Mr Abbas hopes to play a major role in postwar Gaza. He has been under pressure from western and Arab allies to rehabilitate the Palestinian Authority, which has limited autonomy in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The PLO is the internationally recognised representative of the Palestinian people and oversees the western-backed Palestinian Authority. Mr Abbas has led both entities for two decades.‐ AP
