LATEST STRIKES
The Gaza war began after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
Of the 251 hostages seized, 49 are still being held, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
At least 57,823 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, have been killed since the start of the war, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said at least 14 Palestinians were killed in the latest wave of Israeli strikes across the territory on Saturday.
More than 30 people were killed on Friday, including 10 people who were waiting for aid handouts, the agency said.
The Israeli military on Saturday said it had attacked “approximately 250 terrorist targets throughout the Gaza Strip” in the last 48 hours.
Targets included “terrorists, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts, sniper posts, tunnels and additional terrorist infrastructure sites”, it added.
Two previous ceasefires – a week-long truce beginning in late November 2023 and a two-month one from mid-January this year – led to the release of 105 hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
The second Palestinian source said “some progress” had been made in the latest talks on plans for releasing Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and getting more aid to Gaza.
Netanyahu, who is under domestic and international pressure to end the war, said this week that neutralising Hamas as a security threat was a prerequisite for any long-term ceasefire talks.
That included the group giving up weapons, he said, warning that failure to do so would mean Israel would have to do so by force.
