Seven more people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on Friday. According to the Wafa news agency, five died in a strike on the Bureij camp in central Gaza, while two others were killed in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City. Additional fatalities were reported in attacks on Al Mawasi, near Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
The airstrikes intensified as the United States and Arab mediators made some progress toward brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, but not enough to finalize an agreement, Palestinian sources reported.
Egypt, Qatar, and the United States are working to end the 15-month conflict and secure the release of remaining hostages held by Hamas before U.S. President Joe Biden leaves office.
“We’re making some real progress,” he said at the White House. “I’m still hopeful that we’ll be able to have a prisoner exchange,” he added, claiming Hamas was getting in the way of that.
Biden stated that he met with negotiators on Thursday. A Palestinian official emphasized that the lack of a deal so far does not indicate the talks are unproductive.
“There are extensive negotiations, mediators and negotiators are talking about every word and every detail. There is a breakthrough when it comes to narrowing old existing gaps but there is no deal yet,” he said.
Another Palestinian official acknowledged progress in the talks but noted a new Israeli condition that could jeopardize the truce efforts.
“However, Israel still insists on keeping a 1km landscape along the eastern and northern borders of the Gaza Strip, which will restrict the return of residents to their homes and represent a retreat from what it [Israel] had agreed upon in July,” the official said.
“This undermines reaching an agreement and the mediators are exerting effort to convince Israel to return to what had been agreed in the past.”
