CAIRO(National Times)- An Israeli air strike killed at least four Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Monday, health officials said, as mediators met Hamas leaders in a new effort to shore up a fragile, US-brokered ceasefire deal.
Medics said the strike hit a group of men outside a school in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. At Al-Aqsa Hospital, the bodies of the victims lay on the ground in white shrouds as relatives arrived to bid them farewell.
“This isn’t a truce; it’s a trap for our young men. Every day there are martyrs, every single day. How long can this continue?” said Umm Hussam Abu El-Rous, a female relative of one of the victims. “Isn’t it unjust that a p-year-old child is afraid of seeing his (dead) father? He says, ‘My father went to bring me something from the shop.’”
The ceasefire that began last October halted two years of full-blown war but left Israeli troops in control of a depopulated zone comprising well over half of Gaza. The deal left Hamas in power in a narrow coastal strip but has been frequently tested by ongoing Israeli airstrikes and attacks.
More than 750 Palestinians have been killed since the deal took effect. Both Israel and Hamas have traded blame for violations.
The violence comes as leaders from Hamas and other Palestinian factions have met since Saturday in Cairo with mediators from Egypt, Turkiye, and Qatar to discuss implementing the second phase of a plan put forward by US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace.
Under the plan, Hamas would be required to lay down its arms in stages over eight months after a US-backed committee of Palestinian technocrats takes control in Gaza.
However, Hamas disarmament remains a major obstacle. Two officials close to the talks said Hamas told mediators that discussions on disarmament could only proceed after Israel fully implements the first phase of the October deal, which includes a complete ceasefire in Gaza.
Assault on Lebanon
Meanwhile, on Israel’s northern border, Israeli troops launched an attack on Monday to seize a key town in south Lebanon ahead of US-hosted talks between Israeli and Lebanese government envoys.
On the eve of the Washington meeting, Lebanon’s foreign minister said Beirut would use the face-to-face negotiations to press for a ceasefire.
The Israeli military said it completed its encirclement of Bint Jbeil and had begun a ground assault. Lebanese security sources said Hezbollah fighters inside were ready to fight to the death, citing the town’s strategic and symbolic significance as a provincial capital and gateway to surrounding villages.
An Israeli military official said full operational control of Bint Jbeil would be achieved within days.
The diplomatic outlook for Tuesday’s meeting is uncertain. Israel has said it will not discuss a ceasefire, while Hezbollah has objected to negotiations with Israel, reflecting sharp political tensions in Lebanon.
Israeli offensive has killed more than 2,000 people and displaced more than one million. Israel says it aims to occupy south Lebanon up to the Litani River, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border.
On Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said a Red Cross centre in southern Lebanon’s Tyre had been struck.
Lebanon’s state news agency reported one person was killed. Israel’s military said it carried out a strike in Tyre and was investigating reports of damage to the centre.
The Israeli military also said it intercepted more than 10 drones and rockets launched from Lebanon on Monday, while a Hezbollah rocket struck a residential building in the northern Israeli city of Nahariyya, lightly injuring one woman.
