Dozens of Israeli strikes hit the Gaza Strip over the weekend as Israeli and Hamas officials restarted indirect ceasefire talks through mediators in Qatar.
Israel’s military said Sunday it hit more than 100 targets across the enclave over the weekend, including sites from which militants had fired missiles into Israeli territory. It said the strikes had killed Hamas fighters and that the military had taken steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians. The claims could not be independently verified.
Gaza’s health ministry said in a statement on Sunday that 88 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours. Gaza’s Civil Defense, an emergency services agency, said its crews responded to multiple airstrikes on family homes on Sunday, killing and injuring several people.
Pressure is mounting on both sides to reach a ceasefire deal that would include the release of hostages being held in Gaza before President-elect Donald J. Trump on January 20.
On Friday night, Hamas said its officials would continue meetings in the Qatari capital Doha to reach a ceasefire agreement. And Israel said last week it was also sending a delegation of mid-level security officials to meet with mediators in Qatar.
Numerous previous rounds of negotiations have collapsed amid gaps in both sides’ demands. And as hopes of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas rise again, Palestinians and human rights groups say the humanitarian situation in Gaza is becoming even more desperate.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Sunday that overnight Israeli airstrikes near Al-Amal Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis caused significant damage to several hospital facilities and killed one person.
And Gaza’s health ministry said on Sunday that the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza was no longer providing services to the sick or wounded – leaving the northern part of the enclave without functioning hospitals amid constant shelling.
The Israeli military has been waging an offensive in northern Gaza for more than three months against the resurgent power of Hamas.
Aaron Boxerman contributed to this report.
