AN Israeli airstrike has reortedly killed at least 26 Palestinians, including children, in a house in Shejaia in Gaza City.
Local health authorities revealed this on Wednesday, April 9, noting that dozens were injured in an airstrike that struck a multi-story residential building in eastern Gaza City.
Medics reported that many people are still believed to be missing and trapped beneath the rubble, as the strike also damaged several nearby homes.
On March 18, Israel resumed heavy airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, effectively ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas.
On March 31, Israel proposed a prolonged truce in Gaza in exchange for the release of its remaining citizens held as hostages.
Israeli officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity revealed that the proposal included the return of half of the 24 hostages still believed to be alive in Gaza, nearly 18 months after they were taken by Hamas-led gunmen.
Israel has said that Hamas military and governmental infrastructure must be completely dismantled and insisted that the group, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, would have no role in the enclave’s future governance.
However, Hamas has expressed willingness to step aside for another Palestinian administration but refuses to disarm and insists on having a say in selecting the next government.
Israeli Prime Minister,, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on March 30, that his nation would intensify pressure on Hamas while continuing negotiations “under fire.”
He said sustained military pressure was the most effective way to secure the return of the hostages.
However, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, told AFP on Tuesday April 8, that it was “necessary to reach a ceasefire” in Gaza.
He added that “communication with the mediators is still ongoing” but that “so far, there are no new proposals.”
Badran said Hamas “is open to all ideas that would lead to a ceasefire and stop the genocide enacted against our Palestinian people”.
The ICIR reports that on Monday, United States President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister announced that fresh negotiations are underway to secure the release of more hostages held in Gaza.
Out of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas’s attack on Israel, 58 remain in captivity in Gaza, including 34 who the Israeli military says have died.
The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said on Wednesday that at least 1,482 Palestinians have been killed in the renewed Israeli operations, taking the overall death toll since the start of the war to 50,846.
Hamas’s October 2023 attack that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues.