The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the latest indirect talks in Doha included discussions on a truce and hostage deal as well as a proposal to end the war in return for the exile of Hamas militants and the demilitarization of the enclave, terms Hamas has previously rejected.
The substance of the statement was in line with previous declarations from Israel, but the timing, as negotiators meet, offered some prospect of flexibility in Israel’s position. A senior Israeli official said there had been no progress in the talks so far.
A Hamas official told Reuters: “Israel’s position remains unchanged, they want to release the prisoners (hostages) without a commitment to end the war.”
He reiterated that Hamas was proposing releasing all Israeli hostages in return for an end to the war, the pull-out of Israeli troops, an end to a blockade on aid for Gaza, and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
The overnight airstrikes on Gaza hit as Israel prepares for a new ground offensive aimed at achieving “operational control” in parts of Gaza.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 464 Palestinians were killed in the week to Sunday as a result of Israel’s escalated bombardment. The deaths of at least 130 Palestinians overnight are in addition to that figure.
“Complete families were wiped off the civil registration record by (overnight) Israeli bombardment,” Khalil Al-Deqran, Gaza health ministry spokesperson, told Reuters by phone.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the casualties.
Israel has blocked the entry of medical, food and fuel supplies into Gaza since the start of March to try to pressure Hamas into freeing Israeli hostages and has approved plans that could involve seizing the entire Gaza strip and controlling aid.
Reports in Israeli and Arab media that Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar may have been killed could potentially complicate the Doha talks, which began on Saturday.
Hamas neither confirmed nor denied the reports. Israel’s Defense Ministry had no immediate comment.
Gaza medics said contrary to earlier reports Zakaria Al-Sinwar, a history lecturer at a Gaza university and the brother of Hamas’ leader, was alive but in critical condition.
He was placed in the morgue earlier with his three children, before medics realized he was still breathing and moved him to an intensive care unit.
“Hospitals are overwhelmed with a growing number of casualties, many are children,” health ministry spokesman Deqran said.
In Israel, Einav Zangauker, the mother of Hamas hostage Matan Zangauker, said Netanyahu was refusing to end the war in exchange for Hamas releasing the remaining hostages because of his political interests.
“The Israeli government still insists on only partial deals. They are deliberately tormenting us. Bring our children back already! All 58 of them,” Zangauker said in a post on the X social media platform.
One of Israel’s overnight strikes hit a tent encampment housing displaced families in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing women and children, wounding dozens and setting several tents ablaze.
Later on Sunday, the Gaza Health Ministry said the Indonesian Hospital, one of the largest partially functioning medical facilities in north Gaza, had ceased operating because of Israeli fire near and at the vicinity.
Israel’s military said its troops were operating against “terrorist infrastructure sites” in northern Gaza, including in the area adjacent to the Indonesian hospital.
Gaza’s health care system is barely operational because of repeated Israeli bombardment and raids on hospitals. The blockade on aid supplies has compounded its difficulties, and worsened widespread hunger. Israel blames Hamas for stealing aid, which Hamas denies.
Staff at Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest, urged people to donate blood. Hospital officials said they received 40 dead and dozens of wounded overnight because of continued Israeli strikes.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said 75 percent of its ambulances had stopped operating because of fuel shortages. It warned that unless fuel is allowed in within 72 hours, all vehicles may stop.
Israel’s declared goal in Gaza is the elimination of the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas, which attacked Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and seizing about 250 hostages.
The Israeli military campaign has devastated the enclave, pushing nearly all residents from their homes and killing more than 53,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities.
Germany is “deeply concerned” about the situation in Gaza, where it said an intensified Israeli offensive could endanger the lives of hostages, including Germans, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday.
The offensive “could put the lives of the remaining hostages, including those of German hostages, in danger,” said a ministry statement.
“A broad military offensive also risks worsening further the catastrophic humanitarian situation for Gaza’s population and the remaining hostages,” it added.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani earlier urged Israel to stop its military offensive in Gaza, saying that Palestinian civilians must no longer pay the price of war.
“We have to tell the Israeli government ‘that’s enough’,” Tajani said in a statement.
“We no longer want to see the Palestinian population suffer. Stop the attacks, let’s secure a ceasefire, free the hostages, but leave in peace a people who are victims of Hamas,” he added.
The comments reflect growing international disquiet over Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza.
Israel’s military campaign has devastated the tiny, crowded enclave, pushing nearly all its 2 million inhabitants from their homes and killing more than 53,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities.
Tajani was due to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Rome.
The Italian government has been one of Israel’s most vocal supporters within Europe, but unease is building over the devastation being wrought on Gaza.
Also on Saturday, a senior Hamas official said a new round of indirect negotiations with Israel aimed at ending the war in Gaza started in Doha “without any preconditions.”
“This round of negotiations began without any preconditions from either side, and the negotiations are open to discussing all issues,” said senior Hamas official Taher Al-Nunu.
“Hamas will present its viewpoint on all issues, especially ending the war, (Israel’s) withdrawal and prisoner exchange.”
Prior rounds of negotiations have failed to secure a breakthrough on ending the war, and a two-month ceasefire between the sides fell apart when Israel resumed its operations in Gaza on March 18.
