Israeli warplanes and tanks bombarded eastern Gaza City overnight, killing at least 11 people, witnesses and medics said on Tuesday, as senior Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya arrived in Cairo for talks aimed at reviving a stalled U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal.
Indirect negotiations in Qatar collapsed in late July, with Israel and Hamas trading blame over the failure to advance a plan for a 60-day truce and hostage release. Israel has since pledged a new offensive to seize Gaza City, which it captured early in the war before withdrawing.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to expand military control in Gaza, expected to begin in October, has drawn global criticism over destruction and worsening hunger among the territory’s two million residents, most of them displaced. Israel’s military chief has also warned the plan could endanger remaining hostages and Israeli troops.
A Palestinian official familiar with the talks said Hamas was ready to return to negotiations and would reaffirm that position during Tuesday’s Cairo meetings. “Hamas believes negotiation is the only way to end the war and is open to discuss any ideas that would secure an end to the war,” the official told Reuters.
Egypt’s Al Qahera News confirmed the Hamas delegation had arrived for consultations. But major differences remain over the scope of an Israeli withdrawal and demands for Hamas to disarm.
A Hamas official said the group was willing to cede governance of Gaza to a non-partisan committee but would not disarm before the creation of a Palestinian state. Netanyahu, under pressure from far-right coalition allies seeking full Israeli control and resettlement of Gaza, has vowed to continue fighting until Hamas is eradicated.
The Gaza health ministry said 89 Palestinians were killed in the past 24 hours. Overnight strikes killed seven people in two houses in Gaza City’s Zeitoun district and four more in a city-centre apartment building, medics said. In the south, an airstrike on a Khan Younis home killed five people, including a couple and their child, while four died in a strike on a tent camp in Mawasi.
The Israeli military said it was reviewing reports of civilian casualties and reiterated that it takes steps to reduce harm to non-combatants. It said its forces had killed dozens of militants in northern Gaza in the past month and destroyed more tunnels.
The health ministry also reported five more deaths from starvation and malnutrition in the past 24 hours, including two children, bringing the total to 227 such deaths – 103 of them children – since the war began. Israel disputes these figures.
The conflict erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Gaza health officials say more than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military campaign since then.