New Israeli airstrikes in southern Gaza kill at least 21, hospital workers say
DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes killed at least 21 people including two children early Saturday in southern Gaza, hospital staff said, while a new effort at cease-fire talks was said to be underway in Qatar. And the Hamas militant group released a video of an Israeli hostage held in Gaza.
A small boy cried over his father, and a woman draped herself over one of the bodies wrapped in white plastic. The three airstrikes hit a car, a house and people on the street in the city of Khan Yunis, according to staff at Nasser Hospital.
The Civil Defense, first responders affiliated with the Hamas-run government, said an airstrike destroyed a residential area behind the Saraya complex in Gaza City, killing at least five people.
Israeli strikes on Saturday evening killed three people in Bureij and three others in Deir al Balah in central Gaza, according to Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the bodies were taken. One child was among the dead.
Israel’s military said that it targeted Hamas militants with a strike near Salah al-Din in southern Gaza overnight and with a strike on a vehicle in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. It also said that Hamas fired a projectile that hit near the Erez crossing into the Gaza Strip.
There were no immediate statements on the indirect negotiations in Qatar’s capital, Doha, toward a cease-fire after nearly 15 months of war. The Hamas militant group on Friday said talks had resumed and added that it was committed to reaching an agreement. It warned against misinformation, which it said can undermine public confidence.
The talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly stalled as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to fight in Gaza until Hamas is destroyed. Fighters with Hamas, which wants Israeli forces out of Gaza completely, continue to regroup in areas where Israeli forces withdraw.
A new video of a hostage
The war is by far the deadliest round of fighting between Israel and Hamas. It began when Hamas and other militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250. Some 100 hostages are still in Gaza, at least a third believed to be dead.
Families of hostages and others have rallied weekly for months to press Netanyahu to reach a cease-fire deal that would bring loved ones home. Thousands rallied again Saturday night in Tel Aviv, with scuffles as police carried away some protesters who staged a sit-in on a street.
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In a video Hamas released Saturday, Israeli soldier and hostage Liri Albag, speaking under duress, expressed anguish over her situation and mentioned being held 450 days.
“Today is the beginning of a new year; the whole world is celebrating. Only we are entering a dark year, a year of loneliness,” she said. She also said a fellow captive had been injured by the fighting in Gaza, adding, “We are living in an extremely terrifying nightmare.” She did not name the person injured.
Netanyahu’s office said that he spoke with Albag’s parents and told them that “efforts are ongoing, including at this very moment” to bring hostages home.
Israel’s retaliatory air and ground attacks have killed at least 45,717 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally but says women and children make up at least half the dead. The ministry says more bodies remain beneath rubble or in areas where emergency responders cannot reach.
Israel’s military says it targets only militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in dense residential areas. The army says it has killed 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The war has caused widespread destruction and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, many of them multiple times. Now that winter has arrived, hundreds of thousands are sheltering in tents near the sea. Children have died from exposure.
Tensions elsewhere
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, relatives mourned an 18-year-old Palestinian who the Palestinian Health Ministry said was killed Friday during clashes with Israel’s army in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus. The ministry said nine other people were injured.
Palestinian health officials have said Israeli raids throughout the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023, have killed more than 800 Palestinians. Israel says most of these are militants, but youths throwing stones and people not involved in confrontations have also been killed.
U.S. billions for Israel
In Washington, the State Department has informed Congress of a planned $8-billion weapons sale to Israel, U.S. officials say.
Some of the arms in the package could be sent through current U.S. stocks, but the majority would take a year or several years to deliver, according to two U.S. officials Saturday who spoke on condition of anonymity because the notification to Congress hasn’t been formally sent.
The weapons package would add to a record of at least $17.9 billion in military aid that the U.S. has provided Israel since the war began. The Biden administration has faced criticism as Palestinian deaths rise.
Shurafa writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Matthew Lee and Times staff contributed to this report.
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