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.
Israel’s military on Monday said two soldiers were killed in central Gaza on Sunday.
The armed wing of the Hamas-allied group said it fired rockets into Israel on Monday, signaling the group was still able to launch rocket attacks after nearly seven months of the Israeli air and ground offensive.
The strikes on Rafah, where almost half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population have sought refuge from months of Israeli bombardment, unfolded hours before Egypt was expected to host leaders of the Palestinian group Hamas to discuss prospects for a ceasefire agreement with Israel.
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.
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.
In Tel Aviv, the families of two Israeli hostages who appeared in a video issued by Hamas over the weekend held a press conference on Monday, calling for an immediate deal that would secure the release of some 130 hostages still held in Gaza.
“I want to ask everyone to stop the talking and start the actions. We are losing people that are alive now and there is no time to waste,” said Elan Siegel, daughter of Keith Siegel, a 64-year-old dual U.S. citizen taken captive with his wife Aviva, who was released during a brief November truce.
“We also know a deal is possible. Israel, Egypt, Qatar and the United States – we trust you and we urge you to do everything and bring our people home now,” she 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.
Those comments suggested Hamas might not hand an instant response to mediators over Israel’s latest proposal.