Israel has continued its relentless bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip amid growing signs that talks on a truce between Israel and Hamas are progressing.
In Khan Younis, a town in southern Gaza where hundreds of thousands of northerners have fled to escape Israeli bombardment, neighbors said Tuesday that an overnight strike on an apartment killed seven people, most of them children.
In Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, and Rafah, in the south, on Tuesday morning, tragically familiar scenes saw adults and children injured in bombings rushed to overcrowded hospitals.
The Hamas government press office said there was a communications blackout in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip after an Israeli strike hit telecommunications towers.
Israel has been bombing Gaza since October 7 after Hamas fighters carried out attacks in southern Israel that day, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 prisoners, according to Israeli officials.
More than 14,000 people have been killed in the Israeli air and ground attack on Gaza, including 5,600 children, according to Palestinian officials.
The Hamas leader said a truce with Israel was close to being finalized, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped for good news soon regarding Gaza’s captives. These statements represent the most optimistic signals yet of an agreement to suspend the war in Gaza and release prisoners.
US President Joe Biden told reporters that a deal to release some of those held by Hamas was close. “My team is in the region and commutes between the capitals. We are now very close, very close to repatriating some of these hostages very soon,” he said.