By CAIRO, Egypt, Dec 7 (AfrikTimes) – Israeli airstrikes on Gaza killed at least 34 Palestinians on Saturday, according to health officials in the enclave, as Qatar expressed optimism about renewed efforts to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The health officials said that an Israeli strike hit a house in Gaza City late on Saturday, killing four women. The Israeli military did not provide an immediate comment on Saturday’s strikes across Gaza. The death toll was revised upwards from 30 reported earlier in the day by the Palestinian health ministry, which also said dozens were wounded.
The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and resistance fighters in the daily death tallies, and AfrikTimes could not independently verify the figures. Meanwhile, Israel has always accused Hezbollah and Hamas of using civilians and their properties as shields, but both groups have denied these allegations.
Palestinians inspect damage at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, December 7, 2024.
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said Qatar has been engaging with the incoming Trump administration on Gaza after sensing fresh momentum for ceasefire talks following the U.S. election.
Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy has travelled to Qatar and Israel to kick-start the U.S. President-elect’s diplomatic push for a ceasefire and hostage release deal before his inauguration on January 20, a source briefed on the talks told reporters on Thursday.
On Saturday, Hamas reiterated its stance, stating that any ceasefire agreement must include an end to the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Israel, on the other hand, maintains that the war will not end until Hamas is eradicated.
Palestinians inspect damage at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, December 7, 2024.
“Stopping the war and aggression is the condition for any agreement,” said a Hamas statement, quoting a top official of the group, Mohammad Darwish.
Since the death of Yahya Al-Sinwar, Hamas’ leader in Gaza, who was killed in an Israeli strike on October 17, the group has not appointed a new leader. However, the statement described Darwish as the head of Hamas’ leading council.
TALKS IN QATAR
Mohammad Darwish met with Turkey’s Foreign Minister on Friday and Iran’s Foreign Minister on Saturday to discuss the developments in Gaza and the region, the statement said.
Both meetings were held in Doha, Qatar, which announced earlier on Saturday that officials were trying to revive the ceasefire talks.
Palestinians inspect damage at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, December 7, 2024.
“He (Darwish) explained that Hamas remains open to offers by the mediators as long as they served the interest of our people and ending their suffering,” the statement said.
The war in Gaza has been raging for over 14 months, with much of the enclave laid to waste and more than 44,000 Palestinians killed, according to health authorities in Gaza. Israeli forces have intensified operations to dismantle Hamas and secure the release of prisoners held by the resistance group.
The deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in decades began when Hamas stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 prisoners back to Gaza.
Palestinians inspect the damage after an Israeli strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on December 7, 2024.
In the occupied West Bank on Saturday, a Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli forces at a checkpoint, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. Police said a security guard had shot him after he threw firecrackers at the forces there and that a knife was found on his person.
The Israeli military said that on Friday it killed several Hamas resistance fighters who were identified as operating from a structure in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, according to a statement issued on Saturday. Palestinian health officials said at least 20 people, including six children and five women, were killed in that attack.
A woman looks for salvageable items following Israeli bombardment at al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on June 22, 2024.
