At least eight people were killed when Israel attacked a Palestinian shelter school in northern Gaza, as Israel sent several officials to talk about a possible ceasefire.
Israeli airstrikes on Saturday raided the Zainab al-Wazir school in northern Gaza’s Jabalia al-Balad neighborhood, killing eight civilians, including two women and two children, according to Palestinian emergency services.
“The Israelis targeted us without any prior warning,” a mother told Al Jazeera, as she searched through the rubble. “They attacked us with an arrow. I don’t know where our children are. I don’t know anything about them, whether they were injured or killed.”
Al Jazeera’s Moath al-Kahlout described the scenes at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, where dozens of wounded were taken, as “bloody” and “bad”, noting the lack of medical supplies under Israel’s ongoing siege in northern Gaza, where. it has been there for more than 80 days.
Later on Saturday, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported on strikes in various areas of Gaza, including an attack on a house in the Daraj area of Gaza City, killing four Palestinians and wounding several others.
Israeli warplanes also bombed a tent sheltering families left in Deir el-Balah, in the center of the area, killing three people, Wafa reported.
Additional strikes reportedly killed one person near the Bureij refugee camp, also in central Gaza, and another in the southern town of Khan Younis.
The fierce attack comes as Egypt, Qatar and the United States make renewed efforts to reach an agreement to stop fighting in Gaza and to exchange remaining Israeli prisoners for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
‘Strong points of attachment’
On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President-elect Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who traveled to Qatar earlier in the week.
Witkoff has assured Egyptian and Qatari negotiators that the US will continue to work towards a fair deal to end the war soon, said Egyptian security sources quoted by Reuters news agency.
After the meeting, Netanyahu sent a high-level delegation, including the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, to Qatar to “advance” the talks, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office.
“There are a lot of moving parts here,” said Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from the Jordanian capital, Amman.
“Donald Trump has said he will be aggressive in trying to end the war if it doesn’t happen before he takes office … But you have to remember that there are strong points on each side,” he said.
“The Israelis say they will not end the war, and Hamas says they want to see an end to the fighting and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
“And you also have the Israeli community, which is always protesting against Benjamin Netanyahu, against the Israeli government, saying that it is unable and unwilling to make an agreement for fifteen months in this war,” he said.
The families of the Israeli hostages have welcomed Netanyahu’s decision to send officials, which the Headquarters of the Forum for Hostages and Missing Families described as a “historic opportunity”.
‘It’s impossible to stay alive’
As negotiators prepare for ceasefire talks, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said Palestinians under attack in Gaza are also facing severe food shortages, while Israel continues to ignore demands from the United Nations to lift its restrictions on goods entering the Strip.
“We see children with empty pots every day looking for public kitchens, talking to families saying they cannot feed their children once a day,” said Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah.
“Not only are the airstrikes going on, but also malnutrition is killing the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” he said.
Vibe Klarup, head of Amnesty Denmark, said Israel is committing “genocide”.
“If we say that Israel is committing genocide, it is not an opinion, a conclusion based on law, a complete analysis,” he told the conference of the European Palestinian Network in Copenhagen.
“It is becoming more and more impossible to stay alive in the Gaza Strip … Our role as a people is to stop the killing,” he added.
At least 46,537 people have been killed in Israel’s war in Gaza since October 7, 2023, according to Palestinian health authorities.
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