Israel-Hamas war latest: Israeli strikes kill at least 16 in Gaza, Palestinian officials say

Palestinian health officials say Israeli strikes have killed at least 16 people in the Gaza Strip.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital received the bodies, including the remains of a woman and three children, after strikes overnight and into Thursday. An Associated Press reporter at the hospital counted the bodies.

A man held the body of a child wrapped in a white shroud as a woman next to him wept, saying: “My love, my soul.”

The Israeli offensive launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack has killed over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the local Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants or civilians.

Hamas and other militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted around 250. Around 110 hostages are still inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants fight in dense, residential areas.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent months trying to broker a cease-fire deal and hostage release but major gaps remain.

Here’s the latest:

Israeli delegation joins talks in Cairo

JERUSALEM — The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office says a delegation from the country has arrived in Cairo to resume efforts to salvage a Gaza cease-fire deal.

The Prime Minister’s Office said the Israeli delegation that landed in Egypt’s capital Thursday includes David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad foreign intelligence service, the head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service, and top general Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano.

The talks on the proposed cease-fire and hostage release deal — mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar — seek to narrow the remaining differences between Israel and Hamas.

A crucial sticking point involves Israel’s demand for lasting control over two strategic corridors in Gaza. Hamas has long rejected continued Israeli control of the area and called for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

— Julia Frankel

Talks are underway in Cairo, official says

WASHINGTON — Talks are underway on Thursday among U.S., Egyptian and Israeli officials in Cairo as the White House pushes Israel and Hamas to come to terms on a bridging proposal that would lead to a cease-fire in Gaza, according to a U.S. official.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on the matter. The official said Brett McGurk, the White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, was among the officials leading the American delegation.

It remained unclear if Thursday’s talks would lead to another round of indirect negotiations with Hamas as hopes for achieving a cease-fire, at least in the near term have diminished with Israel and Hamas.

Hamas and Israel have signaled that challenges remain amid significant differences over the presence of Israeli troops in two strategic corridors in Gaza and other issues.

Biden on Wednesday spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The president said in social media posting that he made clear to Netanyahu “that we must bring the ceasefire and hostage release deal to closure.”

— Aamer Madhani

Blinken isn't giving up on push for cease-fire

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken isn’t giving up on the Biden administration’s push to broker a Gaza cease-fire agreement, making several calls to foreign leaders to underscore the urgency of a deal just hours after wrapping up his latest Middle East peace mission.

The State Department said Thursday that Blinken had spoken by phone with Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to emphasize the importance of a U.S. proposal to bridge the gaps between Israel and Hamas that could lead to a cease-fire and the release of hostages held by Hamas. Qatar, along with Egypt and the U.S., are the main mediators in talks to bring an end to the fighting.

Blinken “underscored that the bridging proposal presented by negotiators addresses the remaining gaps in a manner that allows for swift implementation of the deal,” the State Department said in a statement about the call that happened on Wednesday. Blinken had been scheduled to meet the emir in person in Qatar late Tuesday but was unable to see him in person because he was ill.

On Monday and Tuesday, Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in El Alamein to make similar points on his ninth trip to the Middle East since the Gaza war began in October.

China advises its citizens in Lebanon to leave the country or remain vigilant due to ‘severe’ security situation

BEIRUT — China has warned its citizens in Lebanon of the “severe and complex” security situation in the country, as hostilities between Hezbollah militants and the Israeli military continue to intensify.

Beijing on Thursday suggested that its nationals should leave while commercial flights are still available due to the uncertainty of the situation.

“Those who need to continue to stay in Lebanon should remain highly vigilant, strengthen safety precautions and emergency preparedness, and avoid going to high-risk areas and sensitive areas in the south,” the statement said.

Major countries have called on its citizens to leave the country, as fears mount of the conflict in southern Lebanon escalating into war across Lebanon and possibly the region.

China earlier this month, days after an Israeli strike in southern Beirut killed a top Hezbollah commander, called on its citizens to “exercise caution when traveling to Lebanon in the near future.”

Israeli authorities say they have arrested 4 Israelis for taking part in a deadly rampage in the West Bank

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli authorities say they have arrested four Israelis, including a minor, who are suspected of taking part in a rampage through a West Bank village earlier this month that killed a Palestinian and wounded several others.

The authorities said on Thursday the four were suspects in “several acts of terrorism against Palestinians,” including the Aug. 15 attack in the village of Jit in the northern West Bank.

Residents interviewed by The Associated Press in Jit said at least a hundred masked settlers entered the village, shot live ammunition at Palestinians, burned homes and cars and damaged water tankers. Video showed flames engulfing the small village, which residents said was left to defend itself without military help for two hours.

In a rare move, Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, roundly condemned the deadly rampage by settlers immediately after it happened. On Thursday, the Israeli military referred to the riot as a “severe terror event.” Settler violence has grown more common since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Rights groups say that arrests for settler violence are rare and prosecutions even rarer. Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported in 2022 that based on statistics from the Israeli police, charges were pressed in only 3.8% of cases of settler violence.

Rights groups express renewed concerns about humanitarian situation in Gaza as Israel issues more evacuation orders

BEIRUT — Rights groups on Thursday expressed renewed concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza after Israel’s latest evacuation orders in parts of the overcrowded central city of Deir al-Balah.

The polio virus has been circulating in the battered Palestinian enclave for the first time in 25 years, relief organization the International Rescue Committee said in a statement. It said the spread resulted from the destruction of hospitals and water infrastructure, along with overcrowded living conditions.

“The news of polio in Gaza should be an alarm bell that more infectious diseases are on the way,” Dr. Jude Senkugu, the group's emergency health coordinator in the territory, said in the statement. “Without clean water, it is nearly impossible to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, as people do not have enough to drink, leaving them with no other choice but to drink contaminated water.”

Meanwhile, international medical organization Doctors Without Borders warned that shrinking living spaces would cause diseases to spread faster.

The majority of Gaza’s population of about 2 million have been displaced in the ongoing Hamas-Israel war since Oct. 7, often more than once. Israel has scaled up its evacuation orders over the past month.

“There is no room to put tents up. The overcrowding, severe lack of water, and minimal sanitation services are fueling the spread of diseases,” Doctors Without Borders' project coordinator Jacob Granger said in a statement. “We are unable to keep up with the overwhelming needs.”

Both organizations have echoed calls from global aid agencies for an immediate cease-fire.

French destroyer in EU mission rescues 29 mariners from oil tanker stricken in Red Sea attacks

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A French destroyer rescued 29 mariners from an oil tanker that came under repeated attack in the Red Sea, officials said Thursday, while also destroying a bomb-carrying drone boat in the area.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels are suspected to have carried out the assault on the Sounion, though they have yet to claim responsibility for the attack.

The Sounion is now at anchor in the Red Sea and no longer drifting, the European Union’s Operation Aspides said. However, it wasn’t clear if the vessel was still ablaze. The vessel had been staffed by a crew of Filipinos and Russians.

Military officials did not name the French destroyer involved in the rescue.

Israeli strike kills 3 in occupied West Bank, Palestinians say

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian Health Ministry says three people have been killed in an Israeli strike on a home in the occupied West Bank.

It said the strike was carried out overnight into Thursday in the Tulkarem refugee camp, a built-up residential area dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. It did not say whether those killed were fighters or civilians.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

The West Bank has seen a surge of violence since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack out of Gaza ignited the war there. Israeli forces carry out near-daily raids in the West Bank that often ignite gunbattles with Palestinians. Palestinian militants have carried out a series of attacks against Israelis.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 637 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the start of the war.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three for a future state.

Israel has built scores of settlements across the West Bank that are home to over 500,000 Jewish settlers. They have Israeli citizenship, while the 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority administering population centers.

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 17

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israeli tank and drone strikes in Gaza on Wednesday killed at least 17 people, according to hospital staff and Associated Press journalists who counted the bodies.

In Khan Younis in the south, nine bodies, among them a woman and child, were rushed to Nasser Hospital. Meanwhile, the Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah received eight bodies.

The strikes in Deir al-Balah come as the Israeli military called for Palestinians in some parts of the central city to evacuate.