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Written by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Dawoud Abu Alkas
CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli military airstrikes killed 12 people at a house in Gaza City early on Saturday, bringing the death toll from attacks across Gaza to 62 on the day. last, Palestinian doctors said, as negotiators launched a new ceasefire. in the country of Qatar.
Residents and doctors said at least 14 people were in the Al-Ghoula family home when the early morning strike damaged the building.
People searched the rubble for survivors trapped in the debris and doctors said several children were among the dead. A few flames and trails of smoke continued to rise from burning furniture in the rubble for hours after the attack.
“At around two o’clock in the morning (00:00 GMT) we were woken up by the sound of a loud explosion,” said Ahmed Ayyan, a neighbor of the Al-Ghoula family, adding that 14 people or 15 are still living in the house.
“Most of them are women and children, they are all civilians, no one fired arrows or came from the opposition,” Ayyan told Reuters.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the incident.
The army said in a statement on Saturday that its forces continued their operation this week in the town of Beit Hanoun on the northern edge of the area where the army has been operating for three months, and destroyed a building the army that was used by. Hamas.
Later on Saturday, an Israeli plane killed three people in a car east of Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, medical experts said. Dozens of Palestinians were killed in the strikes on Friday, bringing the death toll in the past 24 hours to 62, health officials said.
The increase in Israeli operations and the number of Palestinians killed in recent days comes amid renewed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the 15-month-old conflict and the return of Israeli hostages before the US President-elect. Donald Trump took office on January 20.
Israeli mediators have been sent to resume the Doha talks held by Qatari and Egyptian mediators, and the administration of US President Joe Biden, which is helping to broker the talks, urged Hamas on Friday to agree to the agreement.
Hamas said it was committed to reaching an agreement but it was unclear how close the two sides were.
Israel launched its attack on Gaza in response to a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, where militants attacked border towns from Gaza, killing about 1,200 people and capturing about 250 hostages, according to Israeli reports.
Its military campaign, with the stated goal of eliminating Hamas, has destroyed walls, driven scores of people from their homes, and killed 45,717 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
