American and Arab mediators have made some progress in their efforts to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and “Hamas“ in the Gaza Strip, but no agreement yet, Reuters reported, citing Palestinian officials, writes bTA.
Mediators in Qatar have stepped up their efforts to reach a deal before President Joe Biden's term ends in 10 days, after Donald Trump warned of serious consequences if the hostages are not released by his inauguration on January 20.
“There are intensive negotiations, mediators and negotiators are discussing every word and every detail. There is a breakthrough in terms of convergence on existing differences, but there is still no agreement“, a Palestinian official told Reuters, without giving further details.
As the talks in Qatar continue, Israeli military airstrikes on the enclave killed at least 17 people, Palestinian health authorities said. The deaths brought the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip to 70 in the past 24 hours.
Eight people were killed in an airstrike on a house in Jabaliya, the largest of the eight historic refugee camps in the Gaza Strip. Nine more people, including a father and his three daughters, were killed in two other airstrikes.
Meanwhile, the Hamas health ministry said more than 46,000 Palestinians had been killed since the start of hostilities in the Gaza Strip 15 months ago, and 109,378 had been wounded. According to him, more than half of the victims were women and children, but it did not specify how many of the dead were civilians and how many were Hamas fighters.
The Israeli army claims to have eliminated more than 17,000 fighters of the Palestinian group, but without providing evidence. The military said that they try to avoid civilians in their strikes and blamed Hamas for their deaths, since, according to them, the rebels operate from residential areas.
Israel often strikes hospitals, where it claims armed fighters are hiding. The victims of these strikes often become women and children, the Associated Press notes.