The US and fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar said they were closing in on a deal after two days of talks in Doha, with American and Israeli officials expressing cautious optimism. But Hamas has signalled resistance to new demands by Israel.

The evolving proposal calls for a three-phase process in which Hamas would release all captives held in Gaza. In exchange, Israel would withdraw its forces from the besieged territory and release Palestinian prisoners.

Israel's 10-month-long war has killed over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health authorities, displaced the vast majority of the territory's 2.3 million residents and led experts to warn of famine and the outbreak of diseases like polio.

"It is as if we live a primitive life,” said Sanaa Akela, a displaced Palestinian now in the central town of Deir al-Balah, where sewage flooded some streets.

Several children placed in a single body bag
 

The latest Israeli bombardment included a strike on a home in Deir al-Balah that killed a woman and her six children, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. An Associated Press reporter there counted the bodies.

Mohammed Awad Khatab, the children's grandfather, said his daughter, a teacher, was with her husband and their children when their house was struck. He said the children were as young as 18 months and included quadruplets.

“The six children have become body parts. They were placed in a single bag,” he told reporters. “What did they do? Did they kill any of the Jews? ... Will this provide security to Israel?”

Another strike east of Deir al-Balah killed at least four people, according to an AP journalist at the hospital.

A strike in the northern town of Jabaliya hit two apartments, killing two men, a woman and her daughter, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

Another two strikes in central Gaza killed nine people, according to Al-Awda Hospital.

Late Saturday, a strike near the southern city of Khan Younis killed four people from the same family, including two women, according to Nasser Hospital.

Israel claims it only targets militants but the Israeli bombardment has wiped out entire extended families and orphaned thousands of children.

Israel says ‘cautious optimism’ about cease-fire talks
 

Mediation efforts gained new urgency after Israel's targeted killings of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh last month, which led to vows of revenge from Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah, raising fears of an all-out war across the Middle East.

An American official said Friday that mediators were beginning preparations for implementing the latest cease-fire proposal, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office expressed “cautious optimism” that a deal could be reached.

An Israeli delegation was travelling to Cairo on Sunday for further talks, and Blinken will meet with Netanyahu on Monday morning.

Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting there are areas where Israel can be flexible and unspecified areas where it won’t be. “We are conducting negotiations and not a scenario in which we just give and give,” he said.

Hamas has cast doubt on whether an agreement is near, saying the latest proposal diverged significantly from a previous iteration it had accepted in principle.

Hamas has rejected Israel’s demands for a lasting military presence along the Gaza-Egypt border and a line bisecting Gaza where Israeli forces would search Palestinians returning to their homes.

Israel showed flexibility on retreating from the border corridor, and a meeting between Egyptian and Israeli military officials was scheduled for the week ahead to agree on a withdrawal mechanism, according to two Egyptian officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private negotiations.

Blast wounds peacekeepers in Lebanon
 

In Lebanon, three UN peacekeepers were lightly wounded when an explosion struck their vehicle near the southern village of Yarin. The peacekeeping mission, known as UNIFIL, said the incident was under investigation and did not give details.

Hezbollah began launching near-daily drone and rocket attacks along the border to press Israel to halt its war on Gaza, drawing Israeli retaliation in a cycle of violence that has steadily escalated.

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which has also seen a surge of violence, scores of mourners marched in a funeral procession for two Hamas commanders killed in an Israeli airstrike in Jenin the day before.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.