At least 40 killed in Israeli strike on northern Gaza

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At least 40 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on northern Gaza, official Palestinian media reported late on Saturday, with many women and children missing following the attack.
The strike hit a building hosting displaced families in the Tal Al Zaatar area, the Wafa news agency reported, describing the latest attack as a “bloodbath”.
Many people are still missing under the rubble, it added, with rescue efforts hampered by a lack of ambulances and civil defence crews following a lengthy Israeli siege on the north.
The attack was just one of several that killed at least 100 people across the enclave on Saturday. Among the dead were four aid workers from World Central Kitchen (WCK) and Save the Children, who were killed in an air strike on the southern city of Khan Younis.
About 44,400 Palestinians have been killed across Gaza since the war broke out in October last year, with at least another 105,142 wounded and thousands more missing, presumed to be still under rubble.
While a ceasefire has now started between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, there has been no pause to the war in Gaza since a temporary truce in November last year, which led to a brief hostage and prisoner exchange.
A senior Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Saturday to discuss proposals for a ceasefire following talks earlier this week in Tel Aviv between Egyptian and Israeli negotiators, sources told The National on Saturday. About 101 hostages remain held in Gaza, with 35 of them declared dead by Israeli authorities.
On Saturday, Hamas released a video of an American-Israeli hostage calling on US president-elect Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza.
“Please do not make the mistake [President Joe] Biden has been doing. The weapons he has sent are now killing us, and the unlawful sieges are now starving us,” said Edan Alexander.
The video’s release came as large crowds of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv to demand a ceasefire and hostage release deal, with former hostages speaking at a rally marking a year since the week-long truce.
“Make a deal, Bibi,” said Thomas Hand, the father of Emily Hand, 9, who was released as part of the truce. “You’ve had enough time to get the job done.”
About 71 per cent of Israelis support a deal to end the war in Gaza, according to a Channel 12 poll also released on Saturday. It came as former Israel’s defence minister Moshe Yaalon accused the army of ethnic cleansing in Gaza.
“What is happening there? There is no more Beit Lahia, no more Beit Hanoun, the army intervenes in Jabalia and in reality, the land is being cleared of Arabs,” he told the DemocratTV channel.
Mr Yaalon, 74, was the head of the Israeli army between 2002 and 2005, before Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza. He served as defence minister and deputy prime minister before resigning in 2016 after disagreements with Mr Netanyahu.
On Sunday, at least another 17 people were killed in air strikes across Gaza, hours before the UN announced that aid deliveries through a vital crossing with Israel would be paused.
UNRWA commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini said the Karam Abu Salem crossing “has not been safe for months” after a series of heists by armed gangs targeted aid lorries, most notably on November 16 when more than 100 vehicles were looted.
Mr Lazzarini made the announcement after another failed attempt on Saturday to bring food through the route, accusing Israel of deliberately exacerbating the problem. He blamed a “breakdown in law and order” on “the ongoing siege; hurdles from Israeli authorities; political decisions to restrict the amounts of aid; lack of safety on aid routes and targeting of local police”.
“The responsibility of protection of aid workers [and] supplies is with the state of Israel as the occupying power,” he added.