Israel kills four people in Gaza, including a child, medics say

CAIRO: An Israeli airstrike killed a man, his wife and their six-year-old daughter in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday (Jul 15), Palestinian health officials said as talks to advance the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire deal faltered.

The strike on an apartment building in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza killed Omar Abu Qassem, his wife, Asma, and their daughter, Habeeba, medics said. Their son survived, but was injured, medics said.

The Israeli military said the strike targeted a Hamas militant.

In Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in Gaza City, an Israeli airstrike killed one person, medics said. The Israeli military didn't immediately comment on this incident. 

The deaths add to a toll of more than 1,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, killed by Israeli attacks since an October ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to end the war took effect, according to health officials in the enclave. 

Hamas doesn't usually disclose information about its fatalities. 

The truce halted major fighting, but has failed to stop near-daily Israeli strikes. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza over the same period.

CEASEFIRE FALTERS

The latest violence comes as Hamas leaders wrapped up another round of truce talks in Cairo on Tuesday. The discussions - mediated by Egypt, Türkiye and Qatar - were aimed at implementing the second phase of US President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan.

The talks included the disarmament of Hamas and the Israeli military's withdrawal from the strip, according to sources close to the talks, who said there had been little progress amid deep distrust between the two sides.

The second phase also includes allowing a US-backed Palestinian technocratic committee to assume power from Hamas, the deployment of an international security force, and the start of the reconstruction of Gaza, which has been devastated by the war.

Five countries - Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania - have committed to providing troops to the US-backed International Stabilization Force. However, none have yet been deployed as negotiations between Trump's Board of Peace and Hamas have stalled for months. 

Speaking at an aid donor meeting in Brussels on Monday, Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, said he would be visiting Morocco on Tuesday to "sign Morocco's contribution to the International Stabilization Force, and soon we hope to see them on the ground undertaking their tasks."

Mladenov said the October ceasefire was holding but "imperfectly" with violations continuing, adding that Hamas has yet to agree to what he called a "roadmap" for negotiations.

Hamas official Basem Naim accused Mladenov of supporting Israel’s position in negotiations, and failing to hold the country accountable for violating the ceasefire and not upholding the terms of the first phase of the Trump plan.

The plan called for Israel to withdraw its troops to a demarcated "yellow" line, but Israel has been slowly moving its troops forward and now effectively occupies more than 60 per cent of the strip.

Hamas has repeatedly said that it cannot advance to the second phase of the peace plan until the terms of the first phase are fulfilled.

Nearly all of Gaza's 2 million people, most of whom have been displaced several times, now live on a tiny strip of land along the coast, mainly in makeshift tents or damaged buildings, under Hamas control.

Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people during their cross-border attack into Israel on Oct 7, 2023, according to Israeli tallies. The Gazan health ministry said Israel’s subsequent offensive on the strip killed more than 73,000 Palestinians.