IDF strikes kill 40 in Gaza today, including 10 near water point

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes on Sunday killed more than 40 Palestinians, including at a market and a water distribution point, as talks for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas stalled.

Delegations from Israel and the Palestinian group have now spent a week trying to agree on a temporary truce to halt 21 months of bitter fighting in the Gaza Strip.

But on Saturday, each side accused the other of blocking attempts to secure an agreement at the indirect talks in the Qatari capital, Doha.

There has meanwhile been no let-up in Israeli strikes on Gaza, where most of the population of more than two million have been displaced at least once during the war.

Seven UN agencies on Saturday warned that a fuel shortage had reached “critical levels”, threatening aid operations, hospital care and already chronic food insecurity.

Civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said at least 43 people were killed in the latest Israeli strikes, including 11 when a market in Gaza City was hit.

Eight children were among 10 victims of a drone strike at a water point in the Nuseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza, Bassal said.

Gaza civil defence says 52 killed by Israeli forces

“We woke up to the sound of two large explosions,” Khaled Rayyan told AFP after a house was flattened also in Nuseirat. “Our neighbour and his children were under the rubble.”

Another resident, Mahmud al-Shami, called on the negotiators to secure an end to the war.

“What happened to us has never happened in the entire history of humanity,” he said. “Enough.”

In southern Gaza, three people were killed when Israeli jets hit a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in the coastal Al-Mawasi area, the civil defence spokesman said.

150 targets in 24 hours

There was no comment from the Israeli military, which has recently intensified its operations across Gaza.

But it said in a statement Sunday that in the past 24 hours fighter jets “struck more than 150 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip”.

The targets included Hamas, weapons storage sites, and anti-tank and sniper positions, the military statement said.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties.

Out of 251 people taken hostage that day, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 that the Israeli military says are dead.

Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry says that at least 58,026 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s military reprisals. The UN considers the figures reliable.

Forced displacement fears

Talks to agree a 60-day ceasefire in the fighting and hostage release were in the balance on Saturday after Israel and Hamas accused each other of trying to block a deal.

Hamas wants the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, but a Palestinian source with knowledge of the talks said Israel had presented plans to maintain troops in more than 40 percent of the territory.

The source said Israel wanted to force hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into the south of Gaza “in preparation for forcibly displacing them to Egypt or other countries”.

A senior Israeli official said Israel had demonstrated “a willingness to flexibility in the negotiations, while Hamas remains intransigent, clinging to positions that prevent the mediators from advancing an agreement”.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is prepared to enter talks for a more lasting end to hostilities once a temporary truce is agreed, but only if Hamas disarms.

Thousands of people gathered in Israel’s coastal hub of Tel Aviv on Saturday calling for the release of the hostages.

“The window of opportunity… is open now and it won’t be for long,” said former captive Eli Sharabi.

Malnutrition rises since March amid UNRWA blockade

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) reported a rise in malnutrition cases in Gaza since March, following Israel’s ban on its operations and the imposition of an aid blockade.

In its statement, UNRWA said the restrictions on delivering food and medical aid have significantly worsened conditions in the tightly besieged enclave.

The agency reiterated its call for immediate humanitarian access to prevent further deterioration in child health and nutrition.

Aftermath of an Israeli strike in Nuseirat

Photo: [Eyad Baba/AFP]

Photo: [Eyad Baba/AFP]

Family of slain US citizen in West Bank urges US-led probe

The family of Sayfollah Musallet, a 20-year-old US citizen killed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, is calling on Washington to launch an independent investigation and hold those responsible to account.

Musallet, known as Saif, was reportedly surrounded and beaten for three hours during an assault on Friday, according to a family statement. The attackers also allegedly targeted medics attempting to reach him.

“This is an unimaginable nightmare and injustice that no family should ever have to face,” the family said.

They described Saif as a kind and hardworking young man from Florida who had been striving to build a better future.

“We demand that the US State Department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes. We demand justice,” the statement added.

Rights group urges prosecution of Trump over Gaza aid killings

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor has called for US President Donald Trump to be prosecuted for alleged complicity in genocide over his support for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s (GHF) aid distribution model.

In a statement on X (formerly known as twitter), the Geneva-based group urged international legal bodies to hold Trump accountable for backing the GHF, where Israeli forces have killed hundreds of Palestinians at aid collection points in recent weeks.

The group said field testimony pointed to the presence of private US security contractors working alongside Israeli forces during some of the fatal incidents.

It also accused Trump’s administration of offering Israel broad military, financial, political and diplomatic support during its ongoing war in Gaza.