Palestinians inspect damage at the Qatari-funded Hamad City following an Israeli raid, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, August 24, 2024. | Photo credit: Reuters
At least three dozen Palestinians were killed in multiple Israeli airstrikes in southern Gaza, health workers said on Saturday (August 24, 2024) as officials, including a Hamas delegation, gathered for a high-level meeting.Peace talks in neighboring country Egypt,
An airstrike on a house in Khan Younis killed 11 members of a family, including two children, according to Nasser Hospital. A total of 33 bodies were found in three attacks in and around the city, including on tuk-tuks and passersby. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said it had found three bodies in another attack.
The Israeli military said it was investigating the reports.
Rescue workers also recovered 16 bodies earlier in the Hamad City area of Khan Yunis after Israeli forces partially withdrew, 10 bodies were found in a residential block west of Khan Yunis and two bodies in Rafah to the south. The circumstances of their deaths were not immediately clear, but the areas were repeatedly bombed by Israeli forces over the past week. An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies.
Some residents returned to Hamad City, passing through destroyed apartment buildings.
“There is nothing, no apartment, no furniture, no house, only destruction,” said one woman, Naveen Kheder. “We are slowly dying. You know, if they gave a mercy pill it would be better than what is happening to us.”
The war in Gaza began when Hamas and other militants launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians. More than 100 hostages were released during a ceasefire last year, but Hamas is believed to still be holding about 110 hostages. Israeli officials estimate about a third of those held have been killed.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli counteroffensive, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. A total of 69 dead and 212 wounded had been brought to hospitals across the Strip in the past 24 hours, the ministry said on Saturday.
The conflict has caused widespread destruction and forced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants to flee their homes, with many living in shrinking “humanitarian zones”.
Experts met on Saturday to discuss technical issues ahead of high-level talks in Cairo on Sunday on a possible ceasefire brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar. CIA Director William Burns, Qatar’s foreign minister and Egypt’s spy chief were meeting in Cairo on Saturday evening, according to an Egyptian official with direct knowledge of the talks.
Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi told the AP that a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Saturday to meet with Egyptian and Qatari officials. He stressed that Hamas will not directly participate in Sunday’s talks but will be briefed by Egypt and Qatar.
The Israeli delegation, which arrived on Thursday, included Major General Eliezer Toledano, the head of the Mossad foreign intelligence service and the Shin Bet security service, as well as a top general.
Brett McGurk, the CIA director and senior adviser to President Joe Biden on the Middle East, is leading the US side in talks amid major differences between Israel and Hamas, as Israel insists it maintain troops along two strategic corridors into Gaza.
The United States is pushing a resolution aimed at bridging the gap between Israel and Hamas, as fears of a wider regional war grow after recent targeted killings of leaders of the militant Hamas and Hezbollah groups, which both groups blame on Israel.
Gen. CQ Brown Jr., chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, will visit Egypt, Jordan and Israel in the next few days to “emphasize the importance of preventing further escalation of hostilities,” a statement said.
Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to emphasize the urgency of reaching an agreement and discussed developments with the leaders of Qatar and Egypt on Friday.
The Philadelphia Corridor on Gaza’s border with Egypt and the Netzarim East-West Corridor across the territory have been a major standoff. Netanyahu has insisted that Israel must maintain control of the corridors to prevent smuggling and capture terrorists.
Mardawi said there was no change in Hamas’ position, as it had accepted the earlier draft, which included the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.