CAIRO (Reuters) – Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 20 Palestinians on Saturday, local health officials said, as Qatar voiced hope of fresh momentum in efforts to reach a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the reported strikes in Gaza City and Rafah. At least eight of the fatalities were civilians, according to residents and medics. It was unclear whether the rest of those killed were fighters and Reuters could not independently verify the figures.
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Qatar was engaging with the incoming Trump administration on Gaza after sensing fresh momentum for ceasefire talks following the U.S. election.
Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy has travelled to Qatar and Israel to kick-start the U.S. President elect’s diplomatic push for a ceasefire and hostage release deal before his inauguration on Jan. 20, a source briefed on the talks told Reuters on Thursday.
The war in Gaza has been raging for over 14 months, with much of the enclave laid to waste and more than 44,000 Palestinians killed, according to Gaza health authorities, as Israeli forces continue their drive to wipe out Hamas and rescue hostages taken by the militant group.
The deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in decades began when Hamas stormed into Israel on Oct.7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages back to Gaza.
In the occupied West Bank on Saturday, a Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli forces at a checkpoint, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. Police said a security guard had shot him after he threw firecrackers at the forces there and that a knife was found on his person.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo, Ali Swafta in Ramallah and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; editing by Clelia Oziel)
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