During Egyptian Negotiations, Israeli Air Strike Kills 36 Gaza Residents

Corridor Philadelphi. (Dok Al-Jazeera)

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 36 Palestinians in southern Gaza as officials including a Hamas delegation gathered for ceasefire talks in Egypt.

Among the dead were 11 members of a family, including two children, after an airstrike hit their home in Khan Younis.

Nasser Hospital received 33 bodies from three attacks in and around the city. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said it received three bodies from another attack.

The Israeli military said it was investigating the reports.

First responders also recovered 16 bodies from the Hamad Town area of ​​Khan Younis after the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces, 10 bodies from a residential block west of Khan Younis, and 2 more south of Rafah.

The cause of their deaths is not yet clear. But the area has been repeatedly bombed by the Israeli military over the past week.

Read also: Ceasefire Still Stalled as Blinken Leaves Middle East

Some residents returned to Hamad City, clearing debris as they walked among destroyed apartment buildings. An entire wall of one high-rise building was gone. Rooms inside framed residents sifting through debris.

“There is nothing, no apartments, no furniture, no houses, just destruction,” said one woman, Neveen Kheder.

“We are dying slowly. You know if they gave mercy bullets, it would be better than what happened to us,” he said.

Also read: US Approves $312 Trillion Arms Package for Israel

The Israeli military on Saturday announced the deaths of three reserve officers who were killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip the previous day. The officers, two major generals and a lieutenant colonel, were killed in central Gaza, the military said without providing further details.

In recent weeks, Israeli forces have been engaged in fierce fighting with Palestinian militants in central Gaza, particularly in the Deir el-Balah area.

More than 100 hostages taken by Hamas during its surprise offensive against Israel on Oct. 7 were released during a ceasefire last year. But Hamas is believed to still be holding about 110. Israeli authorities estimate about a third of them are dead.

Also read: Hamas Refuses to Get Involved in Gaza Ceasefire Negotiations

Israel’s counter-offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally.

The ministry said Saturday that 69 people were killed and 212 injured had been taken to hospitals across the region over the past 24 hours.

Experts met Saturday on technical issues ahead of high-level talks Sunday in Cairo on a possible ceasefire brokered by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar. CIA Director William Burns, Qatar’s foreign minister and Egypt’s spy chief met Saturday night in Cairo, according to an Egyptian official with direct knowledge of the talks.

“A Hamas delegation arrived on Saturday in Cairo to meet with Egyptian and Qatari officials,” senior Hamas official Mahmoud Merdawy said. He stressed that Hamas would not take part directly in Sunday’s talks but would be briefed by Egypt and Qatar.

The Israeli delegation that arrived Thursday included the heads of the Mossad foreign intelligence service and the Shin Bet security service, as well as Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano. The CIA director and Brett McGurk, President Joe Biden’s senior adviser on the Middle East, are leading the U.S. negotiations amid major differences between Israel and Hamas over Israel’s insistence on keeping troops in two strategic corridors in Gaza.

The US has pushed proposals aimed at closing the gap between Israel and Hamas as fears grow of a wider regional war after recent targeted killings of leaders of the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah. Both groups have blamed Israel.

“The US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General CQ Brown Jr, will visit Egypt, Jordan and Israel over the next few days to emphasize the importance of preventing further escalation of hostilities,” a statement said.

Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to emphasize the importance of reaching a deal and discussed developments with the leaders of Qatar and Egypt on Friday.

Major standoffs have been in the Philadelphi corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt and the east-west Netzarim corridor across the territory. Netanyahu insists that Israel maintains control of the corridors to prevent smuggling and capture militants.

Merdawy said Hamas’ position had not changed since it received a previous draft that included a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. (The Guardian/Z-2)