
This picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip. AFP
Officials have expressed mounting optimism that they can conclude an agreement in the coming days after more than a year of talks that have repeatedly stalled.
Yemen's Houthi rebels meanwhile fired a missile at central Israel, setting off sirens and sending people fleeing to shelters without causing any casualties. Police said several homes were damaged outside Jerusalem and released a photo of a missile casing that had crashed into a roof.
Two Israeli strikes on the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah killed two women, three children aged 9 years or younger, and a 1 month-old baby. One of the women was pregnant and the baby did not survive, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.
Another 12 people were killed in two Israeli strikes on the southern city of Khan Younis, according to the European Hospital.
Israel and Hamas have come under renewed pressure to halt the war in the lead-up to the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, whose Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, recently joined U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators in the Gulf country's capital, Doha.
The phased deal would be based on a framework laid out by President Joe Biden in May and endorsed by the U.N. Security Council.
In the first phase, Hamas would release dozens of the most vulnerable captives seized in 7 October 2023 in exchange for dozens of Palestinian prisoners as Israeli forces pull back from population centers. At least some Palestinians would be allowed to return to their homes and there would be a surge of humanitarian aid.
In the second phase, Hamas says it would release the remaining captives in exchange for a large number of prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal and a lasting ceasefire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep fighting until Hamas' military and governing capabilities have been destroyed. The gap between the two sides would be negotiated during the first phase.
Israel has killed over 46,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children since the beginning of the war.
The offensive has reduced large areas of the territory to rubble and displaced around 90% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million, with hundreds of thousands packed into tent camps along the coast where hunger is widespread.
The war has rippled across the region, igniting over a year of fighting between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah that ended with a tense ceasefire in November. Israel has also traded direct fire with Iran and Yemen's Houthis.
The Israeli army said it made several attempts to intercept the missile launched from Yemen early Tuesday and that “the missile was likely intercepted.” It said an earlier missile fired from Yemen was also intercepted.
The Houthis, who captured Yemen's capital, Sanaa, and much of the country's north in 2014, have launched a series of missile and drone attacks on Israel and have attacked international shipping in the Red Sea related to Israel or the US. The Houthis are fighting in solidarity with the Palestinians.
* This story was edited by Ahram Online.
Short link: