Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza Kill at Least 21, Hospital Workers Say

By Associated Press

Published 3 weeks ago on

January 4, 2025

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill at least 21 as ceasefire talks resume in Qatar amid ongoing conflict. (AP/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli airstrikes kill at least 21 in Gaza, including children, as ceasefire talks resume in Qatar.
Hamas releases video of Israeli hostage Liri Albag, expressing anguish over 450 days in captivity.
Gaza Health Ministry reports over 45,700 Palestinians killed, with widespread destruction and displacement.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes killed at least 21 people, including at least two children, on Saturday in Gaza, hospital staff said, while a new effort at ceasefire talks was underway in Qatar after nearly 15 months of war.

A small boy cried over his father, and a woman draped herself over one of the bodies wrapped in white plastic. Three airstrikes in the southern city of Khan Younis hit a car, a house and people on the street, according to staff at Nasser Hospital.

The Civil Defense, first responders affiliated with the Hamas-run government, said an airstrike destroyed a residential area behind the Saraya complex in Gaza City, killing at least five people.

And Israeli strikes on Saturday evening killed three people in Bureij and three others in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the bodies were taken. One child was among the dead. A young man leaned against a hospital wall and wept.

Israel Targets Hamas Militants

Israel’s military said it targeted Hamas militants with a strike near Salah al-Din in southern Gaza overnight and with a strike on a vehicle in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. It also said Hamas fired a projectile that hit near the Erez crossing into Gaza.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 59 people had been killed and more than 270 others were wounded by strikes in the past 24 hours.

There were no immediate statements on the indirect negotiations in Qatar’s capital, Doha, toward a ceasefire. The Hamas militant group on Friday said discussions had resumed, and added it was committed to reaching an agreement. It warned against misinformation, which it said can undermine public confidence.

The talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly stalled as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to press on in Gaza until Hamas is destroyed. Fighters with Hamas, which wants Israeli forces out of Gaza completely, continue to regroup in areas where Israeli forces withdraw.

New Video of Hostage Released

The war is by far the deadliest round of fighting between Israel and Hamas. It began when Hamas and other militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Around 100 hostages are still in Gaza, at least a third believed to be dead.

Families of hostages and others have rallied weekly for months to press Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire deal that would bring loved ones home. Thousands rallied again Saturday night in Tel Aviv, with scuffles as police carried away some protesters who staged a sit-in on a street.

In a video released by Hamas on Saturday before the latest rally, Israeli soldier and hostage Liri Albag, speaking under duress, expressed anguish over her situation and mentioned being held 450 days.

“Today is the beginning of a new year; the whole world is celebrating. Only we are entering a dark year, a year of loneliness,” she said. She also said a fellow captive had been wounded by the fighting in Gaza, adding, “We are living in an extremely terrifying nightmare.” She didn’t name the injured person.

Netanyahu’s office said he spoke with Albag’s parents and told them that “efforts are ongoing, including at this very moment” to bring hostages home.

Widespread Destruction and Displacement

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 45,717 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which says women and children make up more than half the dead. The ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. It says uncounted bodies remain beneath rubble or in areas where emergency responders can’t reach.

Israel’s military says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths, because its fighters operate in dense residential areas. The army says it has killed 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The war has caused widespread destruction and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, many of them multiple times. Winter has now arrived, and hundreds of thousands are sheltering in tents near the sea. A small number of children have died from exposure to the cold.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said in a statement Saturday that Indonesian Hospital was no longer operational after Israeli operations in the area and said that all public hospitals in the north, largely isolated by a monthslong Israeli offensive, were now out of service. Access to the north is heavily restricted and claims can be difficult to verify.

Meanwhile, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, relatives mourned an 18-year-old Palestinian who the Palestinian Health Ministry said was killed Friday during clashes with Israel’s army in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus. The ministry said that nine other people were wounded.

Palestinian health officials have said Israeli raids throughout the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023, have killed more than 800 Palestinians. Israel says most of these are militants, but youths throwing stones and people not involved in confrontations have also been killed.

A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has held up for more than a month, although its terms seem unlikely to be met by the agreed-upon 60-day deadline. Israel and Hezbollah had exchanged fire almost daily since the war in Gaza began.