Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza as Netanyahu’s office says ‘gaps’ remain in ceasefire agreement – ​​The Irish Times

Israel launched deadly airstrikes on Gaza as the war entered its tenth month on Sunday, with fighting raging across the Palestinian territory and renewed diplomatic efforts to end the violence.

Israel has announced that it will send a delegation in the coming days to continue the ceasefire talks with Qatari mediators that recently began in Doha.

However, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were continuing “discussions” with Hamas about how to achieve a ceasefire and the release of the hostages, Agence France-Presse reported.

Meanwhile, fighting in the Gaza Strip continued unabated. The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Sunday that the bodies of six people, including two children, killed in Israeli strikes had arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital in the central Israeli city of Deir al-Balah.

Medics also said on Sunday that six people were killed in an Israeli attack on a house in northern Gaza City.

On Saturday, the Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip said 16 people were killed in an attack on a school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) that housed displaced people in Nuseirat in central Gaza.

The Israeli military said its planes had targeted “terrorists” operating in the vicinity of the al-Jawni school.

Protests began across the country on Sunday to pressure the Israeli government into a hostage deal with Hamas. Demonstrators blocked roads and set up vigils outside the homes of government ministers.

According to Israeli media, the protests began at 6:29 a.m. Israeli time, the same time Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.

Protesters took to the streets and blocked rush hour traffic at major intersections across the country. On the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway, they briefly set tires on fire before police cleared the way.

Sixteen days after concluding the first phase of a deal to end the Gaza war, Hamas has accepted a US proposal to begin talks on the release of Israeli hostages, including soldiers and men, a senior Hamas source told Reuters.

The militant group has dropped its demand that Israel commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing the agreement and will allow negotiations to take place during the first six-week phase to achieve it, the source said.

At least 38,098 Palestinians have been killed and 87,705 others injured in Israel’s military offensive against Gaza since October 7, the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry said on Saturday. – Agencies