DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip —
An Israel airstrike in Gaza killed at least 18 people, all from the same family, on Saturday, hours after mediators expressed optimism for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas after 10 months of war.
Saturday’s airstrike hit a house and an adjacent warehouse sheltering displaced people at the entrance to the town of Zawaida, according to Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, where casualties were taken. An Associated Press reporter there counted the dead.
Among those killed was Sami Jawad al Ejlah, a wholesaler who coordinated with the Israeli military to bring meat and fish to Gaza. The dead also included his two wives, 11 of their children, ages 2 to 22, and the children’s grandmother, according to a list provided by the hospital.
“He was a peaceful man,” said Abu Ahmed, a neighbor. More than 40 civilians were sheltering in the house and warehouse at the time, he said.
The Israeli military, which rarely comments on individual strikes, said it hit “terrorist infrastructure” in central Gaza from where rockets had been fired toward Israel in recent weeks.
Hours before the strike, officials from the United States, Egypt and Qatar ended two days of cease-fire talks and expressed hope that a deal could be reached. A joint statement said a proposal to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas was presented and they expect to work out implementation details in the coming week in Cairo.
The mediation efforts aim to secure the release of scores of Israeli hostages and stop the fighting that has devastated Gaza, where the Health Ministry said the death toll had surpassed 40,000. The ministry’s figure does not differentiate between combatants and civilians, but many of the victims have been civilians.
Possibly adding to the danger in the Gaza Strip, a polio outbreak is feared.
The cease-fire talks are also meant to calm regional tensions that have threatened to explode into a wider war if Iran and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon attack Israel in retaliation for recent killings of militant leaders.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken was expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Monday.
Thousands of Israelis demonstrated again Saturday night for a cease-fire deal. “We need also the cease-fire for our security because the army is not capable to fight so many months,” said protester Uri Aluma.
Another mass evacuation ordered in Gaza
Another mass evacuation was ordered for parts of central Gaza. Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee, in a post on X, said Palestinians in and around the urban Maghazi refugee camp should leave, citing Palestinian rocket fire.
Ahmad Omrani, one of those affected by the order, watched as heavily laden vehicles, bikes and donkey carts weaved through rubble.
“The suffering began from the day we left our homes,” Omrani said. “We suffer from fear and anxiety, and fear for the children playing in the street. You cannot sleep, sit or eat well.”
The vast majority of Gaza’s population has been displaced, often multiple times, and around 84% of the territory has been put under evacuation orders by the Israeli military, according to the United Nations.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border into Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostages. More than 100 of those abducted were released during a November cease-fire. Around 110 are believed to be in Gaza, though Israeli authorities think about a third of those are dead.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Israel’s military said it struck a “terrorist cell” in Jenin. The Health Ministry there said two bodies were taken to a government hospital.
Associated Press writers Shurafa reported from Deir al Balah and Magdy from Cairo. AP writer Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.