20 Palestinians Killed in Israeli Airstrikes on Rafah
In Gaza City, in the north of the Gaza Strip, Israeli warplanes struck two houses, killing at least four people and wounding several people, health officials said.
The strikes on Rafah, where more than one million people are seeking refuge from months of Israeli bombardment, took place hours before Egypt was expected to host leaders of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas to discuss prospects for a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
The Israeli regime’s attacks on the Gaza Strip that began on October 7 have killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, 66 of them in the past 24 hours, according to Gaza’s health authorities. The war has displaced most of the 2.3 million population and laid much of the enclave to waste.
An assault on Rafah, which Israel says is the last Hamas stronghold in the Gaza Strip, has been anticipated for weeks but foreign governments and the United Nations have expressed concern that such action could result in a humanitarian disaster given the number of displaced people crammed into the area.
On Sunday, Hamas officials said a delegation led by Khalil Al-Hayya, the movement’s deputy Gaza chief, would discuss a ceasefire proposal handed by Hamas to mediators from Qatar and Egypt, as well as Israel’s response. Mediators have stepped up their efforts to conclude a deal.
Two Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters did not disclose details of the latest proposals, but a source briefed on the talks told Reuters that Hamas is expected to respond to Israel’s latest truce proposal delivered on Saturday.
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A senior Hamas official told Reuters the Monday talks in Cairo will take place between the Hamas delegation and the Qatari and the Egyptian mediators to discuss remarks the group has made over the Israeli response to its recent proposal.
“Hamas has some questions and inquires over the Israeli response to its proposal, which the movement received from mediators on Friday,” the official told Reuters.
Source: Arab News
