Massacre toll rises to 32,705
The number of casualties due to the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023 has risen to 32,705 martyrs in addition to 75,190 wounded, the Ministry of Health in Gaza reported Saturday. The Israeli occupation committed eight massacres against families in the Gaza Strip during the past 24 hours.
An Israeli official told Reuters that Israel will send a delegation to Cairo on Sunday. A Hamas official however told Reuters the group would wait to hear from Cairo mediators on the outcome of their talks with Israel first.
The warring sides have stepped up negotiations, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, on a six-week suspension of Israel's offensive in return for the proposed release of 40 of the 130 hostages still held by the Palestinian resistance group in Gaza.
Hamas has sought to parlay any deal into an end to the fighting and withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israel has ruled this out, saying it would eventually resume efforts to dismantle the governance and military capabilities of Hamas.
Hamas also wants hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled Gaza City and surrounding areas southward during the first stage of the war to be allowed back north. One Israeli official said his country was open to discussing allowing back only "some" of the displaced.
Israel kept up its aerial and ground bombardment of the Gaza Strip on Friday, the territory's health ministry said as fighting raged around Gaza City's main Al Shifa hospital.
Armed wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said their fighters continued to battle Israeli forces around the medical facility, the Gaza Strip's biggest hospital before the war, which had been one of the few healthcare facilities even partially operational in north Gaza before the latest fighting.
