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Cairo/Gaza – Israeli strikes killed at least 21 people in Gaza on Sunday, including six children, Palestinian health authorities said, ahead of an upcoming visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region to try to promote ceasefire talks.
Health officials said the children and their mother were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the central town of Deir el-Balah. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
The Israeli military said it destroyed rocket launchers that were attacking Israel from the southern city of Khan Yunis, the scene of heavy fighting in recent weeks and also killed 20 Palestinian fighters.
Diplomatic efforts to stop the conflict between Israel and Hamas and reach an agreement to repatriate hostages held in Gaza have intensified in recent days. Negotiations brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar will continue in Cairo this week, following two days of meetings in Doha last week.
Blinken is due to arrive in Israel on Sunday, his tenth visit to the region since the war began, days after the United States presented mediation proposals that mediators say will bridge differences between the warring parties.
The urgency of reaching a ceasefire agreement has grown amid concerns about an escalation in the region, with Iran threatening to retaliate against Israel following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.
At Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, relatives gathered around the bodies of the mother and her six children, wrapped in white shrouds with their names on them. The youngest was just 18 months old, their grandfather, Mohammed Khattab, told Reuters at the funeral.
“What crime did they commit? … Did they kill Jews? Did they shoot Jews? Did they fire rockets at Jews? Did they destroy the State of Israel? What did they do? What did they do to deserve this?” Khattab said.
Israel denies targeting civilians in its pursuit of Hamas militants and accuses the group of launching attacks from civilian facilities such as schools and hospitals, charges Hamas denies.
After 10 months of war, Palestinians in Gaza have been eager to find a safe place.
“We are tired of displacement. People are being pushed into narrow areas in Deir al-Balah and Mawasi, which have become pressure cookers,” Tamer Al-Burai, who lives in Deir al-Balah with several relatives, told Reuters via a chat app. The tanks were just 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) away, Burai added.
On Friday, the military ordered the evacuation of areas north of Khan Younis and east of Deir al-Balah, where hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the fighting have taken shelter in dire conditions.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Friday’s order included other enclaves outside the humanitarian zone, reducing the area of the secure “humanitarian zone” designated by the Israeli army to about 11% of the total area of the Gaza Strip.
The Deir el-Balah municipality estimates the city’s current population at 1 million and says the evacuation order means more people are crammed into smaller spaces.
In addition, municipal authorities said in a statement on Sunday that water shortages are imminent because several wells and tankers that used to provide 60% of water to residents are located in areas under evacuation orders.
In Israel, Blinken is expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials.
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Saturday that there was “cautious optimism” a deal could be reached and that U.S. officials were also positive but warned that there was still work to be done.
Hamas, however, said the optimistic U.S. rhetoric was “deceptive” and accused Netanyahu of trying to “derail” the negotiations by putting forward new conditions.
Hamas wants a ceasefire to end the war, while Israel wants a temporary ceasefire.
The war broke out on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli statistics.
The ensuing Israeli military campaign has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and razed much of Gaza to the ground, according to Palestinian health authorities. Israel says it has killed 17,000 Hamas fighters.
(Reuters)
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