Israeli strikes kill 19 in southern Gaza, health officials say

At least 19 Palestinians, including eight children, were killed in Israeli airstrikes in southern Gaza overnight, local health officials say.

A mother and her four children were reportedly killed when a tent camp for displaced people in Al Mawasi was attacked, while another couple and their children were killed in the nearby town of Khan Younis.

The Israeli military said it carried out several strikes against Hamas fighters who took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

Deadly attacks were also reported in central and northern Gaza, and the Hamas-run Health Ministry said a total of 51 people had been killed across the territory in the past 24 hours.

In the north, the bodies of at least six people, including a baby, were recovered from two homes in Gaza City that were hit, according to the Hamas-run Civil Defense agency.

Meanwhile, three people were killed in an attack in the central city of Deir al-Balah, while another baby died in the nearby Bureij urban refugee camp, doctors said.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on those attacks.

Gaza’s Health Ministry also issued an urgent appeal for fuel to run generators in hospitals in the south. He warned that the generators would stop working within hours, putting the lives of hundreds of patients at risk.

It came as indirect talks over a ceasefire and hostage release deal continued in Qatar, where US President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy said “a lot of progress” had been made.

Stephen Witkoff said at a news conference in Florida on Tuesday that he would soon travel to Doha to join negotiations brokered by officials from Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

“I’m very hopeful that by the inauguration we’ll have some good things to announce on behalf of the president,” he added.

Meanwhile, Trump repeated his threat that “all hell will break loose in the Middle East” if Hamas does not release the 100 hostages it still holds before taking office on January 20.

Hamas and Israel have accused each other of obstructing progress toward an agreement.

Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s attack on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and another 251 were taken hostage.

Since then, more than 45,930 people have died in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.