Israeli strikes kill 40 more Palestinians in Gaza as ceasefire talks begin in Cairo

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 40 Palestinians on Monday, with more than half of the dead in the southern Gaza city of Rafah where bombs hit three houses, medics said, as Hamas leaders arrived in Cairo for a new round of truce talks.

In Gaza City, in the north of the Gaza Strip, Israeli warplanes struck two houses, killing at least six people and wounding several others, health officials said.

With nightfall, an Israeli air strike on a house in the Al Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza Strip killed three Palestinians, including a local journalist, medics and Hamas media said. Six other people were killed in other central Gaza areas in separate Israeli air strikes, they added.

STRIKE KILLS BABY BOY

"His name is Deif-Allah (meaning guest in Arabic) and he was indeed a guest. He came as a guest after (his parents) longed for (him) for so long, after 10 years," said Abu Taha, holding the body of his baby boy, wrapped in a white shroud.

"Ten people (were killed), the mother, her daughter, her granddaughters, her grandson, her son-in-law, their daughters and relatives, everyone. They're all gone, all 10 of them."

Speaking on Monday at a World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Egypt was hopeful about a proposal for a truce and the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip, but it was awaiting a response on the plan from Israel and Hamas.

"We are hopeful the proposal has taken into account the positions of both sides, has tried to extract moderation from both sides, and we are waiting to have a final decision," Shoukry said.

A Palestinian official close to mediation efforts told Reuters: "Things look better this time," but he declined to say whether an agreement was imminent.

Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas, which controls Gaza. Its military operation has now killed 34,488 Palestinians and wounded 77,643, 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.

'PERIOD OF SUSTAINED CALM'

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 group'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, backed by the United States, 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 was expected to respond to Israel’s latest truce proposal delivered on Saturday.

The source said this included an agreement to accept the release of fewer than 40 hostages in exchange for releasing Palestinians held in Israeli jails, and to a second phase of a truce that includes a "period of sustained calm" - Israel’s compromise response to a Hamas demand for a permanent ceasefire.

After the first phase, Israel would allow free movement between south and north Gaza and a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the source said.

A senior Hamas official told Reuters the Monday talks in Cairo would take place between the Hamas delegation and the Qatari and Egyptian mediators to discuss remarks the group has made over the Israeli response to its recent proposal.

"Hamas has some questions and inquiries over the Israeli response to its proposal, which the movement received from mediators on Friday," the official told Reuters.

Reuters