THE Israeli military has carried out a deadly attack on a shelter in Gaza City as senior officials from Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye were in the United States for talks on reaching the next phase of the shaky ceasefire.
At least six Palestinians were killed and several others wounded on Friday in an Israeli attack in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighbourhood.
Local sources told Al Jazeera that Israeli tank shells struck the second floor of a school-turned-shelter while displaced Palestinian families were gathered there to attend a wedding.
The attack was the latest in hundreds of Israeli ceasefire violations that have taken place since the US-brokered agreement came into force in October, according to a tally from the Gaza Government Media Office.
It comes as US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and other senior US officials were set to begin talks in Miami, Florida, on how to reach the next phase of the Gaza agreement.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that the talks are taking place with representatives of Qatar, Turkiye, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, saying that he may join the negotiations later.
He stressed that the US priority is completing the first phase of the truce deal by setting up a Palestinian technocratic committee to help govern Gaza, establishing the foreign-led “Board of Peace”, and deploying an international policing force to the territory.
“No one is arguing that the status quo is sustainable in the long term, nor desirable, and that’s why we have a sense of urgency about bringing phase one to its full completion,” the top US diplomat told reporters during a news conference at the State Department.
“Once we’ve established that, we have a lot of confidence that we are going to have the donors for the reconstruction effort and for all the humanitarian support in the long-term, building of phases two and phases three.”
Earlier, US news outlet Axios reported that the Miami meeting will include Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.
At the same time, Israel’s public broadcaster, quoting an Israeli official, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding a restricted security consultation to examine the second phase of the ceasefire and potential scenarios.
That official said Israel could launch a new military campaign to disarm Hamas if Trump were to disengage from the Gaza process, while acknowledging that such a move was unlikely because the US president wants to preserve calm in the enclave.
Despite Washington’s insistence that the ceasefire remains intact, Israeli attacks against Palestinians in Gaza have continued almost uninterrupted since the truce came into effect on October 10.
Israel has also blocked the free flow of desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, which has been decimated by the country’s genocidal two-year war on the Palestinian territory.
Earlier on Friday, Israeli forces carried out air attacks, artillery shelling and heavy gunfire across eastern Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent reported from the ground.
Israeli attacks also hit areas under Israeli control in southern Gaza City, while shelling struck Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis, inside the so-called “yellow line” – territory Israel was required to withdraw from under the ceasefire.
Al-Aqsa TV reported that Israeli artillery fire in eastern Khan Younis killed at least three Palestinians, including a woman. The channel said Israeli naval vessels also opened fire on fishing boats off the city’s coast.
Elsewhere, Israeli warplanes bombed Deir el-Balah in central Gaza and carried out another strike in Gaza City’s Shujayea neighbourhood, where plumes of smoke rose over the targeted area.