Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas for a possible ceasefire in Gaza are set to resume Sunday in Doha amid the backdrop of continued deadly Israeli attacks in the Strip.
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 38 Palestinians in Gaza, hospital officials told the Associated Press on Sunday, as Israel’s military said it has struck over 100 targets in the embattled enclave in the past day.
Twenty people were killed and 25 wounded after strikes hit two houses in Gaza City, according to Mohammed Abu Selmia, the director of Shifa Hospital.
In southern Gaza, 18 Palestinians were killed by strikes in Muwasi, an area on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast where many displaced people live in tents, officials at Nasser Hospital in the nearby city of Khan Younis told The Associated Press. Two families were among the dead, according to the hospital.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the individual strikes, but said it struck 130 targets across the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours.
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It said the strikes targeted Hamas command and control structures, storage facilities, weapons and launchers, and that they killed a number of militants in northern Gaza.
Ceasefire deal under negotiation
The strikes occurred as efforts to reach a ceasefire deal appeared to gain momentum over the weekend.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said his government sent a negotiating team to talks in Qatar on Sunday to conduct indirect talks, but he was quoted as saying that Hamas was seeking “unacceptable” changes to a U.S.-led proposal.
The planned talks in Qatar come ahead of Netanyahu’s planned visit on Monday to Washington to meet President Trump to discuss the deal. It is unclear if a deal will be reached ahead of Netanyahu’s White House meeting.
Mr. Trump has floated a plan for an initial 60-day ceasefire that would include a partial release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for an increase in humanitarian supplies allowed into Gaza. The proposed truce calls for talks on ending the 21-month war altogether.
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Hamas has sought guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Previous negotiations have stalled over Hamas’ demands for guarantees that further negotiations would lead to the war’s end, while Netanyahu has insisted on Israel being able to resume fighting to fulfill his goal of destroying the militant group.
A Palestinian official familiar with the talks and close to Hamas told AFP the talks in Doha would focus on conditions for a possible ceasefire, including hostage and prisoner releases. The official said Hamas would also seek the reopening of Gaza’s Rafah crossing to evacuate the wounded.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Many of those hostages have since either been released or their bodies have been recovered in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel responded with an offensive that has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
