Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 36

At least 36 Palestinians were killed early yesterday in Israeli bombings of various areas in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

Children and women were among seven killed when a residential building in Gaza City's al-Jalaa Street was bombed, WAFA said. Another 15 were killed in the bombing of a house where displaced people were taking shelter, west of Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, the agency added.

In the western area of Rafah city, south of the Gaza Strip, 13 Palestinians were killed and others were injured, according to WAFA, in a strike that hit people providing aid.

Earlier, medics said at least 30 people were also wounded in the Rafah attack, with several in critical condition.

In the city of Khan Younis, another group of men tasked with security for aid shipments was hit by a separate Israeli airstrike that wounded several of them, medics said. At least 44,835 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive on Gaza since October 7, 2023.

Meanwhile, Israelis and Palestinians are signalling new efforts to forge a ceasefire deal, their first in a year, to pause the fighting in Gaza and return to Israel at least some of the 100 hostages still held in the Palestinian enclave.

The guarded optimism emerges as US President Joe Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel yesterday before heading to Egypt and Qatar, co-mediators with the US on a deal.