30 killed in Gaza as Qatar hopes for ceasefire; Hezbollah fighter killed

 

Palestinians inspect damage at the site of an Israeli strike on a house at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Dec. 7, 2024.

CAIRO —

The Israeli military said Saturday that it struck a Hezbollah fighter in southern Lebanon who posed a threat to its troops, adding it was operating within ceasefire agreements while remaining deployed to address threats to Israel.

The Israeli military released aerial footage of an operation along with the statement, showing a motorcycle being targeted with an airstrike, resulting in the bike bursting into flames.

Hezbollah did not immediately comment about the incident.

Deaths in Gaza

Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 30 Palestinians Saturday, local health officials said, as Qatar voiced hope of fresh momentum in efforts to reach a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the reported strikes in Gaza City and Rafah.

Palestinian health officials said dozens were also wounded across the enclave Saturday. The territory\’s Health Ministry doesn\’t differentiate between civilians and militants in the daily death tallies, and Reuters could not independently verify the figures.

The Israeli military said Friday it killed several Hamas militants who were identified as operating from a structure in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, according to a statement issued Saturday.

Palestinian health officials said at least 20 people, including six children and five women, were killed in that attack.

Israel accuses the Islamist group of using civilian population and property as shields. Hamas denies this.

Ceasefire talks

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Qatar was engaging with the incoming Trump administration on Gaza after sensing fresh momentum for ceasefire talks following the U.S. election.

Donald Trump\’s Middle East envoy has traveled to Qatar and Israel to kick-start the U.S. president-elect\’s diplomatic push for a ceasefire and hostage release deal before his inauguration on January 20, a source briefed on the talks told Reuters on Thursday.

Hamas said Saturday a ceasefire agreement could only be reached if it secured an end to the war in Gaza, reaffirming its outstanding position. Israel says the war can only end once Hamas is eradicated.

"Stopping the war and aggression is the condition for any agreement," said a Hamas statement, quoting a top official of the group, Mohammad Darwish.

Hamas has not appointed a new leader after Israel killed the group\’s chief, Yahya Al-Sinwar, in Gaza on October 17, but the statement described Darwish as the head of the leading council.

Darwish met with Turkey\’s foreign minister Friday and Iran\’s foreign minister Saturday to discuss the developments in Gaza and the region, the statement said.

Both meetings were held in Doha, Qatar, which announced earlier Saturday that officials were trying to revive the ceasefire talks.

"He [Darwish] explained that Hamas was open to offers by the mediators as long as they served the interest of our people and ending their suffering," the statement said.

Mediating countries, including Qatar, see increased momentum for a possible deal that could allow the hostages being held in Gaza to be released in exchange for scores of Palestinian prisoners, after Israel signed the landmark ceasefire deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon last month.

The war in Gaza has been raging for over 14 months, with much of the enclave laid to waste and more than 44,500 Palestinians killed, according to Gaza health authorities, as Israeli forces continue their drive to wipe out Hamas and rescue hostages taken by the militant group.

The deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in decades began when Hamas stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages back to Gaza. Israel believes Hamas is still holding 101 hostages, including 35 the military says are dead.

A death in West Bank

In the occupied West Bank on Saturday, a Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli forces at a checkpoint, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. Police said that a security guard had shot him after he threw firecrackers at the forces there and that a knife was found on his person.

The United States, Britain and other Western countries designate Hamas and Hezbollah as terror groups.

Nearly three-quarters of Gaza\’s 2.3 million population is displaced, and nearly the entire population is at risk of famine, according to the United Nations.

By：VOA