No sooner had mediators signaled a potential ceasefire deal to win freedom for the remaining hostages Hamas is holding in Gaza than an Israeli airstrike killed 18 members of the same family in the territory.
On Friday, a US official, speaking anonymously, said mediators from the US, Egypt and Qatar had hammered out a proposal that bridges divides between each side’s demands. An “implementation cell” was created ahead of a meeting next week in Cairo to fine-tune the details and logistics, the official said. That would include repatriating hostages and providing humanitarian aid to Gaza.
On Saturday, Israeli bombs rained down on a house and warehouse sheltering more than 40 displaced civilians there, neighbor Abu Ahmed told The Associated Press. The strike killed wholesaler Sami Jawad al-Ejlahwho worked with the Israeli military to procure meat and fish for the besieged territory, and 18 members of his family. Both his wives, 11 of their children aged 2 to 22, their grandmother and three other relatives also perished, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital told AP.
“He was a peaceful man,” Ahmed said.
Israel said it was targeting “terrorist infrastructure”.
Amid a looming polio outbreak in Gaza and 40,000 deaths, the 10-month war is poised to expand throughout the region. About 110 hostages are still being held in Gaza out of 250 taken on October 7 last year, when Hamas crossed the border and massacred around 1,200 peoplekidnapping scores of others. About 100 hostages were released during lulls in fighting late last year, and as many as a third of those still held may be dead, according to Israeli estimates.
“We need a ceasefire to bring them all back,” said Zahiro Shahar Mor, whose 78-year-old uncle, Avraham Munder, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz along with his wife, daughter and granddaughter. The last three were later released, but Munder is still in Gaza.
Mother and others have started pointing fingers at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuand accuse him of prioritizing his own political survival over their loved ones.
In addition to repatriating the hostages, the mediation efforts are an attempt to calm the region as Iran and Hezbollah militants threaten to retaliate against Israel for its recent assassinations of some of their militant leaders.
With News Wire Services