Israeli strikes kill four in Gaza, including two children, amid new ceasefire push
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO, July 30 (Reuters) – While health officials stated that mediators are holding new talks with Hamas leaders for the full implementation of the Gaza peace plan mediated by the United States, it was stated that at least four people, including two children, died in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip on Thursday.
A Hamas official and diplomat close to talks with mediators in Cairo said the discussion was “positive” and “progress was being made.”
The diplomat said negotiations were continuing and progress was being made towards a road map that would decommission all heavy and light weapons in Gaza.
Meanwhile, a man and an eight-year-old girl were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a tent camp in Khan Younis, in the south of the region, medics said.
An Israeli airstrike hit a house in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, killing an 18-month-old child and wounding at least eight others, medics said.
Later Thursday, one person was killed and 10 others were injured in an Israeli attack targeting a Palestinian on a bicycle near a tent camp housing displaced families in Gaza City.
The Israeli military said the attacks targeted Hamas militants, without providing further details.
The latest deaths add to the number of more than 1,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians, killed in Israeli strikes since the ceasefire came into effect, according to Gaza health officials.
Hamas generally does not disclose its losses.
The ceasefire halted full-scale fighting but did not end Israel’s almost daily attacks. Since then, four Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza.
CAIRO TALKS
In Cairo, Hamas leaders were holding talks with mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye on the implementation of the second phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, presented to them by the Peace Board that oversees implementation.
The plan called for increased humanitarian aid, the administration of a civilian Palestinian administration, the disarmament of Hamas, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and the deployment of an international force to help maintain security.
But progress had stalled in the previous months.
A Hamas official on Thursday said the group had come up with a “positive and good” response but did not say whether the group had agreed to complete disarmament; This was a major sticking point in talks over the last four months.
Hamas wants Israel to commit to ending attacks on Gaza and withdrawing its forces.
Sources close to Hamas said the group was willing to “imprison and store” heavy weapons under Palestinian bodies rather than handing them over to Israel. Hamas did not comment on the matter.
It is not yet clear what will happen regarding small arms or personal weapons, and whether Hamas’s new stance will be accepted by Israel and the Peace Council.
The diplomat who participated in the talks said that the road map discussed in Cairo, in addition to decommissioning all heavy and light weapons in Gaza, will gradually transfer authority to the US-backed National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) “without exception” and within the framework of the principle of “one authority, one law, one weapon”.
The diplomat stated that the plan includes the elimination of tunnels, weapons stockpiles and weapons production facilities, and added that “at the end of the process, there will be no militant infrastructure left in Gaza.”
The diplomat stated that the road map is based on mutual steps rather than trust.
So far, the realities in Gaza are far from this road map.
As the Israeli army continues to expand its military occupation of Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel plans to expand the territory under its control to 70% of the territory.
NCAG has been based in Cairo so far but has not announced a timeline for its entry into the region.
It is not yet clear how many forces will be deployed in the ISF and whether Israeli troops will withdraw from the region.
The Peace Board declined immediate comment on the Cairo talks.
Israel wants Hamas to completely cede power in Gaza and be completely disarmed. Hamas effectively dissolved Gaza’s government last month but maintained a guardian body that would provide vital services to residents.
Israel effectively controls an estimated 64% of the tiny coastline of the Gaza Strip, which was left in ruins in its two-year military offensive following a 2023 Hamas offensive on southern Israel.
Almost all of Gaza’s 2 million population now live on a small plot of land on the coast, mostly in makeshift tents or damaged buildings, and face harsh living conditions under Hamas control.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; editing by Gareth Jones, Kate Mayberry and Jason Neely)
