By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Dawoud Abu Alkas
CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) -An Israeli military strike killed 12 people in a house in Gaza City early on Saturday, bringing the death toll from strikes across Gaza to 65 over the last day, Palestinian medics said, as mediators launched a new ceasefire push in Qatar.
Residents and medics said at least 14 people had been in the house of the Al-Ghoula family when the strike took place in the early hours, destroying the building.
People scoured the rubble for possible survivors trapped under the debris and medics said several children were among those killed. A few flames and trails of smoke continued to rise from burning furniture in the ruins hours after the attack.
“At about 2 a.m. we were woken up by the sound of a huge explosion,” said Ahmed Ayyan, a neighbour of the Al-Ghoula family, adding that 14 or 15 people had been staying in the house.
“Most of them are women and children, they are all civilians, there is no one there who shot missiles, or is from the resistance,” Ayyan told Reuters.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the incident.
The military said in a statement on Saturday that its forces had continued their operations this week in Beit Hanoun town in the northern edge of the enclave, where the army has been operating for three months, and had destroyed a military complex that had been used by Hamas.
In Jabalia in the north, an Israeli airstrike killed three Palestinians, medics said. Earlier in the day, another Israeli airstrike killed three people in a car east of the central town of Deir Al-Balah, they said.
Saturday’s deaths brought the toll to 65 since Friday, health officials said.
RENEWED CEASEFIRE PUSH
A surge in Israeli operations and the number of Palestinians killed in recent days comes amid a renewed push to reach a ceasefire in the 15-month-old war and return Israeli hostages before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
Israeli mediators were dispatched to resume talks in Doha brokered by Qatari and Egyptian mediators, and U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration, which is helping to broker the talks, urged Hamas on Friday to agree to a deal.
Hamas said it was committed to reaching an agreement but it was unclear how close the two sides were.
Later on Saturday, the armed group released a video showing an Israeli female hostage – identified by Israeli media as a soldier – urging Israel to do more to secure the hostages’ release, saying her life and that of other captives was in danger because of the ongoing Israeli military action in Gaza.
There was no immediate comment by Israel’s military, which has in the past called such videos “psychological warfare” by Hamas.
Israel launched its assault on Gaza in response to the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in which militants stormed border communities from Gaza, killing about 1,200 people and seizing around 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Its military campaign, with the stated goal of eradicating Hamas, has leveled swathes of the enclave, driving most people from their homes, and has killed 45,717 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry.
