At least eight people were killed in an Israeli attack on a school housing displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza, as Israel sent several senior officials to hold talks on a possible ceasefire.
An Israeli strike on Saturday hit the Zainab al-Wazir school in the Jabalia al-Balad area of northern Gaza, killing eight civilians, including two women and two children, according to the Palestinian civil emergency service.
“The Israelis have attacked us without warning,” a mother told Al Jazeera, as she searched through the rubble. “They attacked us with a missile. I don't know where our children are. “I don't know anything about them, whether they are injured or killed.”
Al Jazeera's Moath al-Kahlout described the scenes at al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City, where dozens of wounded were taken, as “bloody” and “horrific,” and noted the shortage of medical supplies under the current Israeli siege of northern Gaza, which has been in place for more than 80 days.
Later on Saturday, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported attacks in several locations in Gaza, including an attack on a house in the Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City, which killed four Palestinians and wounded several others.
Israeli warplanes also bombed a tent housing displaced families in Deir el-Balah, located in the center of the enclave, killing three people, Wafa reported.
Additional strikes reportedly killed one person near the Bureij refugee camp, also in central Gaza, and another in the southern city of Khan Younis.
The stepped-up attacks came as Egypt, Qatar and the United States made renewed efforts to reach a deal to stop fighting in Gaza and free remaining Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
'Tough sticking points'
On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President-elect Donald Trump's incoming special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who had traveled to Qatar earlier in the week.
Witkoff had assured Egyptian and Qatari mediators that the United States would continue working toward a fair deal that would soon end the war, Egyptian security sources cited by the Reuters news agency said.
After the meeting, Netanyahu sent a high-level delegation, including the head of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, to Qatar to “advance” talks, according to a statement from Netanyahu's office.
“There are a lot of moving parts here,” said Al Jazeera's Hamdah Salhut, reporting from the Jordanian capital, Amman.
“Donald Trump said he would be quite aggressive in trying to achieve a ceasefire if it didn't happen before he took office… But you have to remember that there are difficult sticking points on each side,” he said.
“The Israelis say they are not going to end the war, and Hamas says they want to see a comprehensive ceasefire that would mean an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
“And then there is the Israeli public, who is constantly demonstrating against Benjamin Netanyahu, against the Israeli government, saying that it is neither able nor willing to reach an agreement fifteen months after this war,” he said.
Families of Israeli captives welcomed Netanyahu's decision to send officials, with the Missing Families and Hostages Forum headquarters describing it as a “historic opportunity.”
'Impossible to stay alive'
As mediators prepare for more ceasefire talks, Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary said Palestinians under attack in Gaza were also facing severe food shortages, and that Israel continued to ignore United Nations demands to lift its restrictions on supplies entering the Strip.
“We see children with empty pots every day searching for community kitchens, talking to families who say they can barely feed their children one meal a day,” Khoudary said, reporting from Deir el-Balah.
“It is not only the continuous airstrikes, but also malnutrition that is killing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” he said.
Vibe Klarup, director of Amnesty Denmark, said Israel was committing “genocide.”
“When we say that Israel is committing genocide, it is not an opinion, it is a conclusion based on a legal and thorough analysis,” he said at the European Palestine Network conference in Copenhagen.
“It is increasingly impossible to stay alive in the Gaza Strip… Our role as a people is to stop the genocide,” he added.
At least 46,537 people have been killed in Israel's war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, according to Palestinian health authorities.
