Medics reported on Monday that 13 people had died and several more had been injured in Israeli airstrikes on three homes in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, according to Reuters.
15 people are reported dead by Hamas media outlets. Health authorities said that Israeli jets targeted two homes in Gaza City, in the northern part of the strip, killing and injuring many persons.
The strikes on Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians were seeking shelter after months of Israeli bombardment, came only hours before leaders of the Islamist organization Hamas were scheduled to visit Egypt to negotiate the possibility of an agreement on a cease-fire with Israel.
According to Israeli estimates, an attack on Israel on October 7 by Hamas terrorists resulted in 1,200 deaths and the kidnapping of 253 hostages, starting the conflict.
In a military campaign that has claimed the lives of over 34,000 Palestinians—66 of them in the last 24 hours—Israel has made a promise to destroy Hamas, the organization in charge of Gaza. The majority of the 2.3 million people have been forced to leave, and the majority of the enclave has been destroyed.
On Sunday, representatives of Hamas said that a team headed by the organization's deputy Gaza director, Khalil Al-Hayya, would talk about Israel's reaction to a ceasefire proposal that Hamas had sent to mediators from Qatar and Egypt. In response to Israel's threat to strike Rafah, mediators supported by the USA have increased their attempts to reach an agreement.
The most recent offers were not disclosed by the two Hamas officials who talked with Reuters, but a source aware of the discussions told Reuters that Hamas is anticipated to reply to Israel's most recent ceasefire request, which was presented on Saturday.
According to the source, this included an agreement to a second phase of a ceasefire that includes a "period of sustained calm"—Israel's compromise response to a demand by Hamas for an ongoing ceasefire—and to accept the release of fewer than 40 hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails.
The source stated that following the first phase, Israel will let free movement between south and north of Gaza and a partial evacuation of Israeli forces from the area.
According to a senior Hamas source who spoke to Reuters, the Hamas team and the Egyptian and Qatari mediators will meet on Monday in Cairo to talk about the comments the organization made regarding the Israeli response to their latest proposal.
"Hamas has some questions and inquiries over the Israeli response to its proposal, which the movement received from mediators on Friday," the source told Reuters.
Given such remarks, Hamas might not immediately respond to mediators on Israel's most recent proposal.
