Dozens of people have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the past day, including 10 when fighter jets bombed a residential building in Gaza City, amid reports of ceasefire talks inching closer to an agreement.
The attack in Gaza City on Tuesday hit the Tabatibi family home in the Daraj neighbourhood. Footage showed fires burning in the aftermath of the attack as rescue workers searched for survivors amid the rubble.
Local media reported that the family had fled the house, which was located in the eastern part of Gaza City.
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said the house was targeted without any prior warning.
“Civil Defence workers confirmed that the vast majority of bodies were shredded to pieces,” Abu Azzoum said.
Further north in the town of Beit Lahiya, which has been under Israeli siege since early October, at least 15 people were killed by an air strike that hit a house, medics said.
“We’ve just received confirmed reports that 15 Palestinians were killed in Beit Lahiya where they were sheltering in a house,” said Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah, adding that other people were trapped under the rubble.
Earlier, Al Jazeera’s correspondents in Gaza also reported fighting in Rafah’s al-Jnaina neighbourhood as well as Israeli helicopters shooting east of southern Gaza City.
In Rafah, Israeli tanks pushed towards the western area of al-Mawasi, forcing dozens of families to flee northwards towards Khan Younis, residents said.
The residents said the army blew up several houses in the area and set several tents ablaze.
The Israeli military, contacted by the Reuters news agency, said it had no information regarding tanks advancing towards al-Mawasi.
Later on Tuesday, Gaza’s Civil Defence reported that its crews were heading to the site of an attack on the Rafah beach, stating there were casualties and injuries.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) called for a ceasefire as it warned of “appalling” conditions in one of northern Gaza’s only functioning hospitals.
“The conditions in the hospital are simply appalling,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, a city witnessing intense attacks by the Israeli military. “We urge for the protection of health care and for this hell to stop! Ceasefire!”
WHO and partners reached the facility “two days ago, amid hostilities and explosions in the vicinity of the hospital during the mission”, Tedros added in a post on X, after efforts to deliver needed supplies were repeatedly hampered by the Israeli army.
The mission reached the hospital on November 30 after weeks of unsuccessful attempts, but days later it was forced to flee amid attacks and hostilities around the facility.
Hussam Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, said Israeli snipers attacked the hospital’s intensive care unit.
“This development is very serious and something new for us,” he said. “We cannot stay in this place which is meant to provide ICU services. At the same time, we can’t evacuate and move to another place.”
He added that power generators were hit again, causing a power outage. Bombs launched from quadcopters also kept targeting the hospital’s premises.
Ceasefire talks continue
The Israeli bombardment comes as ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel appeared to be progressing.
Hamas said talks in Qatar on Tuesday aimed at a truce and hostage-prisoner exchange in Gaza were “serious and positive”, a day after an Israeli delegation arrived in Doha to meet with mediators.
“Hamas affirms that, in light of the serious and positive discussions taking place today in Doha under the auspices of our Qatari and Egyptian brothers, reaching an agreement for a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange is possible if the occupation ceases to impose new conditions,” the Palestinian group said in a statement.
On Monday, Israel’s Minister of Defence Israel Katz said negotiators were closer to an agreement than at any time since a truce and exchange of captives for prisoners took place in November 2023.
Katz on Tuesday said his country will have “security control over Gaza with full freedom of action” after Hamas is defeated.
In previous rounds, disagreements over new demands that Israel introduced about its future military presence in Gaza obstructed a deal, even after Hamas accepted a version of the proposal introduced in May by US President Joe Biden.
A round of talks in mid-October failed to produce a deal.
