Israel More dead in fighting in the Gaza Strip

While indirect negotiations on a ceasefire and the release of hostages in the Gaza war are entering the next round, the bloodshed in the sealed-off coastal region continues.

According to the media, Israel's military is investigating reports that dozens of civilians were killed in an airstrike in Chan Junis in the south. According to the Israeli military, the target was a Hamas terrorist who was allegedly involved in the massacre in Israel on October 7, wrote the Times of Israel.

According to the health authority in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the Islamist Hamas, the Israeli army attacked a school in Chan Junis. At least 25 people - according to other reports, 29 - were killed. According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, there were displaced people in the school building. A number of people were injured. None of this information could initially be independently verified.

According to the Israeli military, a fighter jet fired "precision ammunition" during the attack on the Hamas terrorist, as reported by the "Times of Israel" and the Israeli newspaper "Haaretz". The target of the attack was located near the school in the east of Chan Junis. The military had called for the evacuation of the area last week, the report continued. Footage circulated on social media is said to show bleeding wounded being treated in a hospital. Children can also be seen.

Negotiations enter the next round

Meanwhile, indirect negotiations on a ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are to continue today in Doha, following earlier talks in Cairo. Egyptian reports of significant progress are premature, the Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 quoted a senior Israeli source as saying. The negotiations were "difficult and complex". However, efforts are being made to achieve a breakthrough.

Israel's delegation is traveling under the leadership of the head of the foreign intelligence service Mossad, David Barnea, the head of the domestic intelligence service Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, and the chief negotiator of the military, Nitzan Alon, Israeli media reported. They wanted to meet CIA chief Bill Burns, Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel and Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in the Qatari capital. The USA, Egypt and Qatar are mediating between Israel and Hamas.

The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre of more than 1,200 people killed by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups in Israel on October 7, 2023. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 38,200 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war. The figure, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, cannot currently be independently verified. According to Israel's army, it continues to attack targets in several areas.

For example, the Israeli armed forces have also been deployed again for several days in the heavily devastated city of Gaza in the north of the coastal region. Soldiers "engaged in close combat with terrorist cells and eliminated more than 150 terrorists", the military said. According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, six people were killed in an attack on a building in the city. A small child was rescued alive. The statements by both warring parties could not initially be independently verified.

Israel's army had previously announced that it was taking action against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fighters in the city of Gaza. According to the latest operation in the district of Shejaiya, which is considered a Hamas stronghold, six kilometers of tunnels and booby-trapped buildings were destroyed. Control and command centers had been set up in some of the branched underground systems. Israel's military sees indications that Hamas is once again trying to gain a foothold there.

Israeli army: No evacuation of clinics in combat zones

Israel's military denied reports by the Palestinian news agency Wafa that the army had forced doctors at the Al-Ahli hospital in the city of Gaza to close the clinic. Civilians had been asked to leave the combat zones as a precautionary measure. However, the call did not apply to hospitals and medical facilities. The army had informed representatives of the Palestinian health system that it was not necessary to evacuate clinics.

Meanwhile, the violent conflict between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia continues. Following a deadly rocket attack on the northern Golan Heights, Israel's air force reportedly fired on positions of the pro-Iranian militia in southern Lebanon. The Israeli army announced in the evening that the area from which the rockets were fired had been hit. According to Israeli police, two people were killed in the Hezbollah attack on the Golan Heights.

More deaths in the Lebanon conflict

According to the media, the victims are civilians. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack on Tuesday evening. Dozens of rockets had been fired at a military base in response to an Israeli attack. Hours earlier, a suspected Israeli drone attack on a car in Syria near the border with Lebanon had killed a former bodyguard of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah have been fighting almost daily since the beginning of the Gaza war. Recently, the intensity of the fighting has increased significantly. There have been casualties on both sides. There are fears that the conflict could escalate. Hezbollah claims to be acting "out of solidarity" with Hamas.