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US official says last main sticking point appears to be agreeing a ‘defined category of vulnerable hostages’
The Israeli military said on Sunday it intensified operations in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, with the air force and artillery hitting about 50 targets within six minutes, it said, in an attempt to “intensify operational achievements in the area”.
“During the strikes, the troops destroyed terrorist infrastructure and eliminated Hamas terrorists who were operating from civilian facilities in urban areas,” it said.
Israeli forces struck tents housing displaced Palestinians near a hospital in Rafah, killing 11 people and injuring dozens on Saturday, according to Gaza’s health officials. A paramedic was among those killed and children were also injured in the strikes, which occurred near the Emirati maternity hospital, a spokesperson for the Gaza health ministry said.
The US air force began airdrops of aid over Gaza on Saturday in a joint operation with Jordan in a last-resort attempt to get food into the besieged strip as mass starvation looms. US and Jordanian planes dropped 38,000 meals in the first of a series of airdrops that US President Joe Biden announced on Friday, US officials said.
Israeli forces arrested 14 members of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), the organisation said. In a tweet on Saturday, it said: “PRCS expresses deep concern for the safety of its detained teams, whose fate remains unknown, and calls on the international community to urgently intervene to pressure the Israeli occupation authorities to immediately release our detained colleagues.”
The US vice-president, Kamala Harris, will meet with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz on Monday, a White House official told Reuters. The meeting was expected to cover topics including reducing Palestinian casualties, securing a temporary ceasefire, hostage release and an increase in aid flow.
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