US, Arab mediators make some progress in Gaza peace talks, but no deal yet, says sources

CAIRO, Jan 9 (Reuters) – U.S. and Arab mediators have made some progress in their efforts to reach a ceasefire accord between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, but not enough to seal a deal, Palestinian sources close to the talks said on Thursday.

As talks continued in Qatar, the Israeli military carried out strikes across the enclave, killing at least 17 people on Thursday, Palestinian medics said.

The deaths brought to 70 the number of people killed by Israeli strikes across Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, according to the territory’s health ministry.

Qatar, the U.S. and Egypt are making a major push to reach a deal to halt fighting in the 15-month conflict and free remaining hostages held by Islamist group Hamas before President Joe Biden leaves office.

President-elect Donald Trump has warned there will be “hell to pay”, if the hostages are not released by his inauguration on Jan. 20.

On Thursday, a Palestinian official close to the mediation effort said the absence of a deal so far did not mean the talks were going nowhere and this was the most serious attempt so far.

SEVERE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS

On Thursday, the death toll from Israel’s military strikes included eight Palestinians killed in a house in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps, where Israeli forces have operated for more than three months. Nine others, including a father and his three children, died in two airstrikes on two houses in central Gaza Strip, health officials said.

Later, dozens of people arrived at the hospital in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza Strip to mourn their dead relatives, and take their bodies, wrapped in white shrouds, to graves.

“There is no safety in the country, at all, not for a child, a woman, an old person, not for stones or trees, animals or birds or anything. Everyone is targeted, without prior warning,” said resident Adel Al-Mansi.

There was no Israeli military comment on the two incidents.

In an address delivered by an aide, Pope Francis stepped up his recent criticisms of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation “very serious and shameful.”

“We cannot accept that children are freezing to death because hospitals have been destroyed or a country’s energy network has been hit.”

The comments were part of an address to Vatican-accredited envoys that is sometimes called the pope’s ‘state of the world’ speech. The Israeli ambassador to the Holy See was present.

There was no comment from Israel on the pontiff’s comments.

Israel denies hindering humanitarian relief to Gaza and says it has facilitated the distribution of hundreds of truckloads of food, water, medical supplies and shelter in the past week.

More than 46,000 people have been killed in the Gaza war, according to Palestinian health officials. Much of the enclave has been laid waste and most of the territory’s 2.1 million people have been displaced multiple times and face acute shortages of food and medicine, humanitarian agencies say.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military said troops had recovered the body of Israeli Bedouin hostage Youssef Al-Ziyadna, along with evidence that was still being examined suggesting his son Hamza, taken on the same day, may also be dead.

“We will continue to make every effort to return all of our hostages, the living and the deceased,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.