Dozens killed in strikes in southern Gaza as preparations for cease-fire talks move forward

CAIRO — At least three dozen Palestinians were killed in multiple Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip, officials said Saturday, even as preparations moved ahead for high-level cease-fire talks in the Egyptian capital.

Among the dead were 11 members of the same family, including two children, when an Israeli airstrike hit their home in the city of Khan Younis early Saturday, according to Nasser Hospital where the bodies and wounded were taken.

The hospital received a total of 33 dead who were killed in three separate strikes in and around Khan Younis. The city’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said it had received another three bodies from an early Saturday strike.

Seventeen others were killed when a strike hit a road south of Khan Younis, including the passengers on a tuk-tuk and passers-by, Nasser Hospital said. Another strike hit a tuk-tuk east of Khan Younis, killing at least five people.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports but had no immediate comment.

First responders also recovered the bodies of 10 people from a residential block west of Khan Younis. The circumstances of their deaths were not immediately clear, the hospital said, but it was an area repeatedly bombed by the Israeli military over the past week.

An Associated Press journalist at the hospital counted the bodies and filmed the funeral service in the hospital’s courtyard.

The war in Gaza broke out Oct. 7 when Hamas and other militants staged a surprise attack on Israel, killing some 1,200 people, primarily civilians. More than 100 hostages were released during a cease-fire last year, but Hamas is still believed to be holding around 110 more, about a third of whom are dead, according to estimates from Israeli authorities.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. It has also caused widespread destruction and forced the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents to flee their homes.

Experts were meeting Saturday to work through technical issues and pave the way for the high-level talks Sunday on a possible cease-fire mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar.

A Hamas delegation arrived Saturday in Cairo to meet with Egyptian and Qatari officials, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Merdawy told the AP. He stressed that Hamas will not take part directly in the Sunday talks, but instead will be briefed by Egypt and Qatar.

An Israeli delegation that arrived Thursday included David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad foreign intelligence service, the head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service, and top general Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano.

CIA Director William Burns and Brett McGurk, a senior adviser on the Middle East to President Joe Biden, are leading the U.S. side of negotiations amid major differences between Israel and Hamas over Israel’s insistence that it maintain forces in two strategic corridors in Gaza.

The White House on Friday said the talks had been constructive and that progress had been made, without providing specific details.

The U.S. has been pushing a bridging proposal that aims at closing the gaps between Israel and Hamas, as pressure mounts for a cease-fire and fears grow over a wider regional war after the recent targeted killings of leaders of the militant Hamas and Hezbollah groups, both blamed on Israel.

Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to stress the urgency of reaching a cease-fire and hostage release deal, and discussed developments with the leaders of Qatar and Egypt on Friday.

A major impasse has been the Philadelphi corridor alongside Gaza’s border with Egypt and the Netzarim east-west corridor across the territory.

Hamas is demanding a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, while Netanyahu has insisted that Israel must retain control of the corridors.

Hamas political official Bassem Naim said last week that the working proposal at the time had adopted Netanyahu’s demands, including that Israeli forces remain in control of both the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors.

Ahead of Sunday’s talks, Merdawy said Hamas’ position had not changed from accepting an earlier draft that would include the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

_____ Rising reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writer Wafaa Shurfa in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, contributed to this report.

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