Hamas delegation to hold ceasefire talks in Cairo
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Hamas representatives will go to Cairo on Saturday for talks on a possible ceasefire in Gaza, an official in the Palestinian militant group told AFP on Friday.
"A Hamas delegation will go to Cairo tomorrow for several meetings with Egyptian officials to discuss ideas for a ceasefire and a prisoner accord in the Gaza Strip," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic.
The announcement came two days after a ceasefire went into effect between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, a Hamas ally.
The United States has also announced a new diplomatic effort with Qatar, Turkey and Egypt to reach a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages taken during Hamas's October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel that set off the current fighting.
That attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,207 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed 44,363 people in Gaza, according to figures from the territory's health ministry, which the United Nations considers reliable.
Some 251 hostages were also taken on October 7, and 97 are believed still in Gaza, including 34 people who the Israeli army says are dead.
The only ceasefire so far, in November 2023, saw the release of about 100 hostages by Hamas and its allies in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt have led multiple failed efforts since the start of the year to reach a new ceasefire and hostage release.
15 dead in Israeli strikes on north Gaza
Gaza's civil defence agency said on Friday that at least 15 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Beit Lahia, in the north of the Hamas-run territory.
The area has been subjected to a major Israeli offensive for almost two months.
The homes of the Baba and Ahmed families were hit in the past 24 hours by Israeli strikes, agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP, adding that they "were able to retrieve only 10 bodies".
He said dozens more were feared buried under the rubble of the two homes.
"A person went with a horse-drawn cart to retrieve the dead from the bombing of the Baba family home. It was targeted by an Israeli drone while it was on its way back to Kamal Adwan Hospital, which resulted in the deaths of five additional people."
The north of the Gaza Strip has been the target of an Israeli offensive since October 6, aimed at preventing Hamas from regrouping.
The Kamal Adwan hospital, on the edges of Beit Lahia and Jabalia, said that the head of its intensive care unit, Ahmed al-Kahlout, was killed in an Israeli strike.
Asked about the doctor's death, the Israeli military said it was "unaware of a strike that occurred in this location or timeframe".
The war was sparked by Palestinian group Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, that resulted in the deaths of 1,207 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed 44,363 people in Gaza, according to figures from the territory's health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.