Israeli soldiers allegedly killed two dozen people in Gaza, including 10-year-old quintuplets, as Anthony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv to push a ceasefire deal with Hamas.
The US secretary of state was supposedly making a last-ditch bid to expedite a deal being negotiated in Cairo, Egypt, whose terms Hamas has alleged favour Israel.
The Palestinian group said on Sunday that Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu had set new conditions for any potential deal, including that Israeli forces would not withdraw complety from Gaza.
At around the same time, Israeli forces allegedly targeted a home in Deir al-Balah area and killed a set of quintuplets aged 10, an 18-month-old child and a woman, according to the Al-Aqsa hospital in Gaza. Israel, however, says it does not target civilans.
“The six children have become body parts. They were placed in a single bag,” Mohammed Awad Khatab, their grandfather, said. “What did they do? Did they kill any of the Jews? Will this provide security to Israel?”
Another alleged Israeli attack east of Deir al-Balah killed four people, the Associated Press reported. A strike in the northern town of Jabaliya hit two apartments, killing two men, a woman and her daughter.
A set of strikes in central Gaza killed nine people, Al Awda hospital reported, and an Israeli military attack in Nuseirat allegedly killed one person.
Israel has killed over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza over the last 10 months, according to local health ministry.
The Israeli war in Gaza, launched after Hamas raided southern Israel and killed about 1,200 people, has also displaced 1.9 million people in the besieged territory and left the entire population of over 2.2 million at the risk of famine and disease, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
“It is as if we live a primitive life,” said Sanaa Akela, a displaced Palestinian in the central town of Deir al-Balah, where sewage flooded some streets.
Mr Blinken on Monday called the latest diplomatic push by Washington to achieve a ceasefire deal in Gaza “probably the best, maybe the last opportunity” and urged all parties to get the agreement over the finish line.
The marathon talks towards a ceasefire that has been going on for months are set to continue this week in Cairo, following a two-day meeting in Doha last week.
“This is a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security,” Mr Blinken told reporters, ahead of his meeting with Israeli president Isaac Herzog.
“I’m here as part of an intensive diplomatic effort on President Biden’s instructions to try to get this agreement to the line and ultimately over the line…It is time for everyone to get to yes and to not look for any excuses to say no,” he added.
The mediating countries – Qatar, the US and Egypt – have so far failed to narrow enough differences to reach an agreement in months of on-off negotiations, and violence continued unabated in Gaza on Sunday.
Shortly before Mr Blinken’s arrival, Mr Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting there were areas where Israel could be flexible and unspecified areas where it would not be. “We are conducting negotiations and not a scenario in which we just give and give,” he said.
Hamas rejected Israel’s demand for a lasting military presence along Gaza’s border with Egypt as well as a line bisecting the territory where the Israelis would search Palestinians returning to their homes. Israel claimed that these measures were needed to prevent Palestinian fighters from rearming and returning to the north.
The evolving ceasefire proposal called for a phased process wherein Hamas would release all hostages taken on 7 October and Israel would withdraw its military from Gaza and release Palestinian some prisoners.
Hamas took nearly 250 Israeli civilians and soldiers hostage on 7 October. Nearly 100 were released during a short-lived ceasefire in November and about 110 were still believed to be in Gaza.
Israeli authorities claimed that around a third were dead. A few were killed by Israeli snipers and in airstrikes.
The Israelis hold thousands of Palestinians in prisons and military detention centres, many without trial and in horrendous conditions.
American officials claimed Washington presented proposals to bridge all the gaps remaining between Israeli and Hamas positions on a ceasefire.
Formal responses to the US outline were expected this week and could lead to a ceasefire declaration unless the talks collapsed, as happened with multiple previous efforts.
In addition to Mr Netanyahu, Mr Blinken was expected to meet defence minister Yoav Gallant and president Isaac Herzog on Monday before travelling to Egypt the next day.
US president Joe Biden told reporters on Sunday that a deal was “still possible”. “We’re still underway. We’re not giving up,” he said.