Israeli strikes kill 15 in Gaza as Cairo holds fresh truce talks

CAIRO: Israeli military strikes killed at least 15 Palestinians in Gaza today, medics said, as Israeli forces kept up bombardments across the enclave and blew up houses on its northern edge.

In the central Gaza camp of Nuseirat, an Israeli air strike killed six people in a house, and another attack killed three in a home in Gaza City, medics said.

Two children were killed when a missile hit a tent encampment in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, while four other people were killed in an air strike in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, medics told Reuters.

Residents said the military blew up clusters of houses in the northern Gaza areas of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, where Israeli forces have operated since October this year.

Palestinians say Israel’s operations on the northern edge of the enclave are part of a plan to clear people out through forced evacuations and bombardments to create a buffer zone – an allegation the army denies.

The military says it has killed hundreds of Hamas rebels there as it fights to stop the faction regrouping almost 14 months since the war in Gaza started.

Hamas’s armed wing says it has killed many Israeli forces in anti-tank rocket and mortar fire attacks, and in ambushes with explosive devices since the new operation started.

Prisoners, talks

Two Palestinian detainees from Gaza have died in Israeli custody, prisoner advocacy groups said today, bringing the number of detainees reported killed since the start of the war to 47.

They named the two men as Mohammad Idris and Muath Rayyan, both in their 30s.

The Israel prison service said the cases were not under its jurisdiction and there was no immediate comment from the military which runs detention camps.

Israel has denied accusations from Palestinian and international human rights organisations that detainees have been mistreated and tortured in its jails and detention camps.

Meanwhile, Hamas leaders held talks in Cairo with Egyptian security officials to explore ways to reach a deal with Israel that could secure the release of hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners.

The visit was the first since the US announced on Wednesday it would revive efforts in collaboration with Qatar, Egypt and Turkey to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza.

Hamas is seeking an agreement that would end the war while Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the war will only end when Hamas is eradicated.

Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 44,300 people and displaced nearly all of the enclave’s population, Gaza officials say.

Vast swathes of Gaza lie in ruins.

The conflict when Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israeli communities on Oct 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and abducting more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli officials.