Gaza rescuers: Israeli strikes kill 12, children among the dead

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli forces pounded the Palestinian territory on Thursday, killing at least 12 people, including three girls, 15 months into the war.

The latest strikes came as Qatar, Egypt, and the United States mediate negotiations in Doha between Israel and Hamas militants for a deal to end the fighting in Gaza and secure the release of hostages.

Three girls and their father were killed when an airstrike hit their house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, the civil defense agency reported.

Local paramedic Mahmud Awad said he helped transfer the bodies of two girls and their father, Mahmud Abu Kharuf, to a hospital.

"Their bodies were found under the rubble of the house that the occupation bombed in the Nuseirat camp," Awad told AFP. He added that the body of the third girl had been found earlier by residents.

In a separate strike, eight people were killed when their house was hit in the town of Jabalia in northern Gaza, where the army has focused its offensive since Oct. 6.

Several others were wounded in that strike, the civil defense agency said.

Israeli airstrikes and shelling continued across Gaza, even as mediators pressed on with efforts to halt the fighting and secure a deal for the release of hostages still held in Gaza.

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Paris that a ceasefire was "very close."

"I hope that we can get it over the line in the time that we have," Blinken said, referring to President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20.

"But if not, I believe that when we get that deal – and we will get it – it’ll be on the basis of the plan that President (Joe) Biden put before the world back in May."

In May, Biden unveiled a three-phase plan for the release of hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza.

On Wednesday, the health ministry in Gaza said the overall death toll in the strip had reached 45,936 since Oct. 7, 2023.