Israeli strikes kill five at hospital, Gaza officials say, after abortive talks

An Israeli airstrike hit a tent inside a hospital compound in central Gaza, killing at least five people, bringing the total of Palestinians killed on Sunday to 19, Gaza health officials said after another round of talks ended without result.

The airstrike hit a tent area inside the Al-Aqsa Hospital compound, starting a fire, and wounding at least 18 people in addition to the five killed, medical authorities said.

The Israeli military said it struck a militant who "conducted terror activities" and that secondary explosions were identified, indicating weapons were present in the area.

Its statement added that it struck 50 military targets across the enclave in the last 24 hours, including militants' cells.

The hospital compound is in the Deir Al-Balah area, which is crowded with thousands of people displaced by fighting in other parts of the enclave.

Elsewhere in Deir Al-Balah, three Palestinians were killed when an Israeli missile struck a house, while eight other people were killed inside their home in Jabalia camp in northern Gaza City and three inside a car in separate Israeli strikes.

Reuters footage showed Palestinians trying to tackle the fire that broke out in the tent encampment with water and small fire extinguishers.

Residents in areas east of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis and to the north of Rafah, where there was heavy fighting last month, reported receiving evacuation orders from the Israeli military.

Separately, the Israeli military said it was working on dismantling a three-metre-high tunnel in the Philadelphi Corridor on the border with Egypt discovered last week by troops searching for underground Hamas infrastructure in the area.

Palestinians make their way as they return to the eastern side of Khan Younis after Israeli forces pulled out from the area following a raid, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip July 30, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled)

CAIRO TALKS

Israeli forces have continued strikes and shelling in the Gaza Strip after diplomatic efforts in Cairo on Saturday ended without progress and as Israel braces for a serious escalation in the north.

Sirens went off in the area of Ashdod, further north than seen in recent weeks, and the Israeli military said five rockets were launched from southern Gaza. No injuries were reported. Hamas armed wing claimed the rocket firing was in response to Israeli "massacres against civilians.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has insisted that Israel must retain control over areas on the border with Egypt and be able to control entry to northern Gaza, said Hamas had yet to agree to a proposed ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Israel seeks the return of 115 Israeli and foreign hostages still being held after they were abducted during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

"I insist that the maximum number of living hostages must be freed in the first stage of the deal and that the leverage for pressing for the release of all the hostages later be preserved," he said in a statement, denying that his government opposed a deal. "The complete opposite is true," he said.

Hamas has blamed Netanyahu for the lack of progress, saying he is not interested in an agreement.

"Things about the agreement have gone beyond the details," Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said. "Netanyahu is dragging the region into an unprecedented clash."

Palestinians walk near houses destroyed in the Israeli military offensive as they struggle with food scarcity, basic necessities amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, June 19, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo)

SURGE IN TENSION

The chances of a breakthrough appear slim as regional tension has soared following the assassination of Hamas' leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday, a day after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, a top military commander from the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Haniyeh's death was one in a series of killings of senior Hamas figures as the Gaza war nears its 11th month.

Hamas and Iran have both accused Israel of carrying out the assassination of Haniyeh and have pledged to retaliate. Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility for the death.

Hezbollah, like Hamas, is backed by Iran and has also vowed revenge after the killing of Shukr.

At least 39,550 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, according to Gaza health officials.