Israeli strikes across Gaza kill dozens as US pushes for ceasefire

CAIRCAIRO, Jan 8 (Reuters) – Israeli military strikes across Gaza killed at least 22 people on Wednesday, Palestinian medics said, as the U.S. stepped up efforts to overcome sticking points between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire to end the war.

One of the airstrikes killed at least 10 people in a multi-storey house in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City on Wednesday, while another killed five in the nearby Zeitoun suburb, medics said.

In Deir Al-Balah city in central Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering, an Israeli airstrike killed three other people.

In Jabalia, where the army has operated for more than three weeks, an Israeli airstrike killed four people, medics said.

On Tuesday, Israeli military strikes killed at least 24 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, medics said, with two airstrikes hitting tent encampments in Mawasi, to the west of the southern city of Khan Younis, killing 18 people. The dead included several women and children.

There was no comment by the Israeli military on those incidents.

As Israeli continued its bombardments, the U.S., Qatar and Egypt were making the most intensive effort in months to reach a ceasefire, with one source close to the talks saying this was the most serious attempt to reach a deal so far.

The outgoing U.S. administration has called for a final push for a deal before President Joe Biden leaves office, and many in the region view President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 as an unofficial deadline.

“Things are better than ever before, but there is no deal yet,” the source told Reuters.

But with the clock ticking, both sides accuse the other of blocking a deal by adhering to conditions that have torpedoed all previous peace efforts for more than a year.

On Tuesday, Hamas stood by its demand that it will only free its remaining hostages if Israel agrees to end the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza. Israel says it will not end the war until Hamas is dismantled and all hostages are free.

Hamas also said that Trump was rash to say there would be “hell to pay” unless the hostages go free by his inauguration.

Osama Hamdan, an official with the Islamist group, told a news conference in Algiers on Tuesday: “I think the U.S. president must make more disciplined and diplomatic statements.”

Nearly 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza, according to health officials in the enclave. The assault was launched after Hamas fighters stormed Israeli territory on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.