CAIRO: Israeli military strikes killed at least 45 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip Sunday, most of them in the north of the enclave, Palestinian health officials said, as efforts to secure a ceasefire resumed in Qatar. At least 43 of those killed Sunday were in northern Gaza, where Israeli troops have returned to root out Hamas fighters who it says have regrouped there.
The directors of the CIA and Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, meanwhile, are meeting with Qatar’s PM Sunday in Doha, an official briefed on the talks said. The negotiations will seek a short-term ceasefire and the release of some hostages being held by Hamas in exchange for Israel’s release of Palestinian prisoners, the official said. The talks aim to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a halt in fighting for less than a month in the hope it would lead to a more permanent ceasefire. There was no immediate comment from Hamas but a Palestinian official close to the mediation effort said: “I expect Hamas would listen to the new offers, but it remains determined that any deal must end get Israeli forces out of Gaza.”
