26 Deaths in Israeli Strikes Amid Stalled Peace Talks

The Gaza Civil Defence Agency confirmed that a dawn airstrike on the al-Ghoula family's home in Gaza City resulted in the deaths of 11 individuals, including seven children.

Photographs from the Shujaiya neighborhood in Gaza City showed residents searching through the debris of flattened buildings. Among the rubble, bodies, including those of young children, were lined up and covered with white sheets.

On Friday evening, Hamas had declared that indirect negotiations with Israel would resume in Qatar later that night, aimed at securing a truce and advancing discussions on hostage releases. No further updates have been provided since.

Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel escalated the ongoing Gaza conflict, stated that the talks would focus on achieving a "complete cessation of hostilities" and the "withdrawal of occupation forces."

Mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States have been attempting to broker peace for months but have been unable to halt nearly 15 months of warfare. A significant barrier to a ceasefire has been Israel's reluctance to agree to a lasting end to hostilities.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed that Israeli negotiators were authorized to continue talks in Doha.

In December, Qatar had expressed optimism about the momentum building for peace talks following the election of U.S. President Donald Trump. However, both Hamas and Israel later accused each other of introducing new conditions that obstructed progress.

On January 1, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that retaliatory strikes would intensify if rocket fire from Gaza continued and if Hamas did not release the hostages it still holds.

Though rocket launches had become rare, they have escalated since late December as Israel launched a three-month offensive in northern Gaza.

Mahmud Bassal, a spokesman for the Gaza Civil Defence, reported that the al-Ghoula home was "completely destroyed" in the attack. "It was a two-storey building, and several people are still under the rubble," he said, noting that Israeli drones had also targeted ambulance crews.

The Israeli army did not immediately comment on the airstrike.

A neighbor, Ahmed Mussa, described the devastation: "A huge explosion woke us up. Everything was shaking. It was a family home with children and women. There was no one there who posed a threat."

Elsewhere, an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis killed five security officers who were escorting aid convoys. Bassal accused Israel of deliberately targeting the officers to disrupt the humanitarian supply chain and exacerbate the suffering of the population. The Israeli army has not responded to the claim.

United Nations human rights experts raised concerns on Monday about the ongoing siege of northern Gaza, suggesting it could be part of a broader effort to displace the local population in preparation for Gaza's annexation.

Rescue teams reported that additional strikes across Gaza killed at least 10 others, including a child and two members of the same family in Khan Yunis. In a tragic scene, paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent were seen removing the body of one of their own colleagues in Gaza City.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza stated that at least 136 people had been killed over the previous 48 hours.

The war's toll began with the October 7 Hamas attack, which claimed the lives of 1,208 people, primarily civilians, according to AFP's tally of Israeli figures.

Israel's military campaign in Gaza has since claimed the lives of at least 45,717 people, the vast majority of them civilians, based on figures from the Gaza health ministry, which the United Nations considers reliable. In addition, militants have taken 251 hostages, with 96 still held, including 34 who are reported dead according to the Israeli military.