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DEIR ALBALA, Gaza Strip (AP) – Officials announced that Qatar has decided to halt important mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel.
But one official said Qatar was likely to return to the effort if both sides showed “serious political will” to reach an agreement on the Gaza war.
A diplomatic source briefed on the matter said both Israel and Hamas, along with the United States, were briefed after the decision was made. The official added that “as a result, Hamas’s political office no longer serves its purpose” in Qatar.
The announcement came as frustration grew over the lack of progress on the ceasefire agreement.
This is the latest news. Previous articles from the Associated Press are below.
DEIR ALBALA, Gaza Strip (AP) – Three separate Israeli airstrikes killed at least 16 people, including women and children, in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Palestinian medical officials said, while Israel continued to struggle with starvation. announced that it has delivered its first humanitarian aid in weeks to people suffering from the virus. Desolate northern Gaza.
Israel’s operations against Hamas militants in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon continue to show no end in sight, with the Israeli military announcing overnight attacks on a command center and other militant infrastructure on the southern outskirts of Beirut.
At least six people were killed in an airstrike in Gaza that hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City’s eastern Tufa neighborhood, the Gaza Strip’s Ministry of Health said. The dead included two local journalists, a pregnant woman and a child. The Israeli military said the attack targeted militants belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, but did not provide evidence or details.
According to Nasser Hospital, an Israeli airstrike hit a tent in the southern city of Khan Younis where refugees were taking shelter, killing seven people. The dead included two women and a child. The Israeli military did not respond to requests for comment.
Palestinian medical workers also said Israeli forces attacked tents in the courtyard of the main hospital in central Gaza, including one that serves as a police base. At least three people were killed and a local journalist was injured, according to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah. This was the eighth Israeli attack on the facility since March.
Israel announces aid truck will reach northern Gaza
COGAT, the Israeli military agency responsible for humanitarian assistance to Gaza, announced on Saturday that 11 aid trucks loaded with food, water and medical equipment arrived in the far north of the enclave on Thursday. It is the first time aid has arrived in the far north since Israel launched a new military operation there last month.
However, not all of the aid reached the agreed handover points, according to the United Nations World Food Program, which was involved in the delivery process. At the Jabaliya urban refugee camp, Israeli forces stopped a convoy bound for nearby Beit Rahiya and ordered it to unload supplies, WFP spokeswoman Alia Zaki said.
Israeli attacks have focused on Jabaliya, where Israel claims Hamas has regrouped. Other areas affected include Beit Rahiya and Beit Hanoun, just north of Gaza City.
US deadline for Israel looms
The aid announcement came days before a U.S. deadline to require Israel to improve its aid delivery across Gaza. Otherwise, it risks losing access to U.S. arms funding.
The United States requires Israel to allow at least 350 trucks a day carrying food and other supplies.
Meanwhile, a report released by the Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC) on Thursday said famine is likely imminent in parts of northern Gaza, the most isolated area in the Gaza Strip.
COGAT rejected the IPC’s findings, saying the report relied on “partial and biased data and superficial sources with vested interests.”
Emergency services are not functioning in northern Gaza City
The United Nations estimates that tens of thousands of people remain in northern Gaza. Earlier this week, the Ministry of Health announced that no ambulances or emergency services were operating in northern Gaza City.
According to UN statistics, the conflict has forced 90% of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to flee. Israeli forces raided several schools and tent camps packed with tens of thousands of Palestinians forced from their homes by Israeli attacks and evacuation orders.
The military accuses Hamas of operating within civilian infrastructure in Gaza, including schools, United Nations facilities and hospitals.
More than 43,000 people have been killed in more than a year of war in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Authority. They do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but say more than half of those killed were women and children.
The war began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people (mostly civilians) and abducting 250 others.
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Sammy Magdy reported from Cairo. Jack Jeffrey contributed to this report from Ramallah, West Bank.
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Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
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