Israeli airstrike kills 18 people from one family in Gaza

An Israel airstrike in Gaza killed at least 18 people – all from the same family – and another strike killed 10 people in Lebanon on Saturday, hours after mediators expressed optimism for an imminent ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas after 10 months of war.

A joint statement by mediators from the United States, Egypt and Qatar after two days of talks said a proposal to bridge gaps was presented, and they expected to work out implementation details in Cairo next week.

At least 18 Palestinians – all from the same family – were killed by fresh Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, according to authorities.Credit: AP

The mediation efforts aim to secure the release of scores of Israeli hostages and stop the fighting that has devastated Gaza, where the death toll has surpassed 40,000 and a possible polio outbreak is feared. Talks are also meant to calm regional tensions that have threatened to explode into a wider war if Iran and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon attack Israel in retaliation for recent killings of militant leaders.

Saturday’s airstrike in central Gaza hit a house and an adjacent warehouse sheltering displaced people at the entrance to the town of Zawaida, according to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, where casualties were taken. An Associated Press reporter there counted the dead.

Among those killed was Sami Jawad al-Ejlah, a wholesaler who coordinated with the Israeli military to bring meat and fish to Gaza. The dead also included his two wives, 11 of their children aged two to 22, the children’s grandmother and three other relatives, according to a list provided by the hospital.

“He was a peaceful man,” said Abu Ahmed, a neighbour. More than 40 civilians were sheltering in the house and warehouse at the time, he said.

The Israeli military, which rarely comments on individual strikes, said it struck “terrorist infrastructure” in central Gaza where rockets had been fired toward Israel in recent weeks. It said it was continuing attacks on militants in the region and had ordered another mass evacuation for parts of central Gaza.

The vast majority of Gaza’s population has been displaced, often multiple times, and about 84 per cent of the territory has been put under evacuation orders by the Israeli military, according to the United Nations.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border on October 7, killing about 1200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 250 to Gaza. More than 100 were released in a November ceasefire. About 110 are believed to be in Gaza, though Israeli authorities believe around a third of those people are now dead.

As tensions continue to simmer in the wider region, an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed at least 10 Syrian nationals, including a woman and her two children, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said. Israel said the strike had targeted a Hezbollah weapons depot.

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Israel’s military said it struck a “terrorist cell” in Jenin.

The health ministry there said two bodies were taken to a government hospital. Hamas claimed the two men as commanders in its military wing.

Ceasefire and implementation plans

Mediators have spent months pursuing a three-phase plan in which Hamas would release the hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to arrive in Israel on Sunday as part of Washington’s intensifying diplomatic push to achieve a ceasefire and end the 10-month war.

The top US diplomat’s 10th trip to the region since the war began in October last year comes days after the United States put forward bridging proposals that it and mediators Qatar and Egypt believe would close gaps between the warring parties.

Efforts took on new urgency in recent weeks after the killing of a top Hezbollah commander in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut and of Hamas’ top political leader in an explosion in Tehran that was widely blamed on Israel.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire since the war started.

In an apparent sign of confidence, mediators were beginning preparations for implementing the ceasefire proposal even before its approval, said an American official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with rules set by the White House.

Israel’s negotiating team expressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “cautious optimism for the possibility to move toward a deal”, a statement from his office said.

Protesters in Tel Aviv calling for a hostage deal on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images

An Israeli official said a delegation was set to travel to Cairo on Sunday to continue talks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorised to discuss the sensitive talks with the media.

But Hamas has cast doubt on whether an agreement was near, saying the latest proposal diverged significantly from a previous iteration they had accepted in principle.

Hamas has rejected Israel’s demands that include a lasting military presence along the border with Egypt and a line bisecting Gaza where it would search Palestinians returning to their homes in a bid to find militants.

Israel showed flexibility in retreating from the border corridor, and a meeting between Egyptian and Israeli military officials was scheduled for next week to agree on a withdrawal mechanism, according to two Egyptian officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the private negotiations.

AP, Reuters

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