Gaza Strip.– New Israeli attacks have killed at least 16 people in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian health officials said Thursday.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital received the bodies, including the remains of a woman and three children, after the attacks that occurred overnight and on Thursday. An Associated Press journalist at the hospital counted the bodies.
A man held the body of a child wrapped in a white shroud while a woman at his side cried and said: “My love, my soul.”
The Israeli offensive launched in response to the Hamas attack on October 7 has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the local health ministry, which did not say how many were combatants or civilians.
Hamas and other militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and kidnapped about 250. About 110 hostages remain inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
The Israeli military claims to have killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence. It blames Hamas for civilian deaths because the militants fight in densely populated residential areas.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said Thursday that a delegation from the country has arrived in Cairo to resume negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Israeli delegation includes Mossad intelligence agency director David Barnea, Shin Bet internal security agency director and Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano, the office said.
Negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of hostages — brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar — are aimed at narrowing the gap between Israel and Hamas.
A major bone of contention is Israel’s insistence on retaining control of two strategic corridors in Gaza. Hamas rejects any Israeli control and demands a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Israel maintains that a military presence is necessary to prevent another attack like the one on October 7 from happening.
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