Gaza's civil defence organisation reported that over 30 Palestinians were killed in Israeli bombardments on Friday, as Hamas announced that indirect discussions for a cease-fire in the war would resume in Qatar.
The Israeli military claimed three rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip, the latest in a string of attacks by militants in the devastated Palestinian region.
“Friday was a harsh day for the residents of Gaza, particularly in Gaza City, due to the continual Israeli bombardment,” civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP.
Several children were among the dead, he said. According to Bassal, an Israeli strike in Gaza City's Shujaiya neighbourhood claimed seven lives. Mohammed Abu Labda, a Palestinian of Gaza whose brother was killed, called it an "act of revenge" for Israel.
“They’ve destroyed everything that moves on this Earth, even the trees, so what about people? This is a war of extermination,” he told AFP.
According to the Israeli military, "the Israeli air force struck approximately 40 Hamas terrorist gathering points" during the course of the previous day. According to the report, several of the targets "were embedded in areas that previously served as schools."
Bassal refuted the claim. At the Indonesian hospital in the northern town of Beit Lahia, he charged that the military was "preventing food and drinking water from reaching dozens of medical staff, patients, and wounded."
He claimed the hospital had been sending out distress calls since Thursday and was now "just a pile of rubble and walls. There is no hospital".
The Israeli military told AFP that it had not targeted the Indonesian hospital on the previous day or destroyed any critical equipment. It stated that "there is no need to evacuate the hospital" and that it was working with hospital administrators to provide humanitarian assistance. On Sunday, a UN team paid a visit to the Indonesian hospital.
"Around me, there's nothing but rubble and destruction," UN assistance officer Jonathan Whittall said in a video published during the visit. The Israeli military has regularly accused Hamas of exploiting hospitals as command headquarters, something the militants deny., AFP reported.
According to a report published on Tuesday by the United Nations Human Rights Office, "insufficient information" has been made available to validate "vague" Israeli charges of military use of hospitals.
As gunfire raged in the Gaza Strip, Hamas announced that indirect negotiations with Israel will begin in Qatar later on Friday for a cease-fire and hostage release agreement.
The militant group stated that the discussions would "focus on ensuring the agreement leads to a complete cessation of hostilities (and) the withdrawal of occupation forces".
Mediators Qatar, Egypt, and the United States have been involved in months of back-and-forth discussions between Israel and Hamas, which have failed to resolve nearly 15 months of war.
A key obstacle to a deal has been Israel’s reluctance to agree to a lasting ceasefire.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he had authorised Israeli negotiators to continue talks in Doha.
Meanwhile, militants in Gaza fired three missiles at Israel, according to the IDF. Such launches have become far more infrequent than earlier in the war, but they have increased since late December as Israel moves forward with a three-month onslaught in the northern area.
Since October 6, the Israeli army has been conducting an extensive bombing of north Gaza, claiming that it is to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping. According to UN human rights experts, the "siege" in north Gaza looks to be part of a strategy "to permanently displace the local population as a precursor to Gaza's annexation".
Bassal estimated that 10,000 people remained in the northern towns of Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, down from between 150,000 and 200,000 before the war.
According to an AFP calculation based on Israeli official estimates, 1,208 persons were killed during Hamas' 2023 onslaught on Israel, the majority of whom were civilians. Israel's retaliatory military operation has killed at least 45,658 people in Gaza, the bulk of them are civilians, according to estimates from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which the UN considers accurate.