Rafah, Palestinian Territories — Gaza’s health ministry said at least 12 people were killed and dozens were wounded on Wednesday in a series of air strikes in Rafah near the border with Egypt.
AFP correspondents witnessed more than 10 air strikes that hit several houses near the frontier.
“Twelve martyrs and dozens of wounded, including women and children, were recovered from under the rubble when a house and a mosque were targeted hundreds of meters from Kuwaiti hospital,” the ministry said in a statement.
AFP video footage showed a thick plume of smoke and blaze of fire rising amid massive explosions that rocked the border area.
Israel continued its withering air and land campaign against Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, on the 75th day of the war that erupted after a bloody attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7 killed 1,140 people in Israel, mostly civilians.
Israel’s military offensive since killed at least 19,667 people, mostly women and children in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Palestinian territory.
The leader of Hamas visited Egypt on Wednesday as hopes grew that Israel and the Palestinian militant group may be inching towards another truce and hostage release deal in the Gaza war.
Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented attack against Israel from Gaza on October 7, killing about 1,140 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The militants also took around 250 hostages, of whom 105 have been released and several killed, including by friendly fire.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel has relentlessly bombarded Gaza and sent in ground troops in an offensive that has killed 19,667 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory.
Here are five key developments from the past 24 hours:
Hamas chief in Cairo
The Qatar-based Hamas chief, Ismail Haniyeh, arrived in Cairo for discussions on the “aggression in the Gaza Strip and other matters”, the group said in a statement.
He was due to meet Egypt’s spy chief for talks on “stopping the aggression and the war to prepare an agreement for the release of prisoners”, a source close to the Palestinian group told AFP.
Haniyeh — who earlier met Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Qatar — was heading a “high-level delegation” to Egypt, a frequent mediator between Israel and the Palestinians, the source said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had told hostage families late Tuesday that he had twice sent his spy chief to Europe in efforts to “free our hostages”.
“It’s our duty, I’m responsible for the release of all the hostages,” the premier told the relatives of some of the 129 captives still believed to be held in Gaza.
Hostage video
The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad released video footage on Tuesday it claimed showed two hostages alive in its custody in Gaza after being taken to the territory during the October 7 attacks.
In the video, two men appear one after the other urging Israeli authorities to ensure their release.