Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 21 people, including two children, in southern Gaza, hospital staff have said.
The fresh bombardment came as new ceasefire talks were said to be underway in Qatar to end nearly 15 months of bloodshed.
The three Israeli airstrikes hit a car, a house and people on the street in the city of Khan Younis on Saturday, according to staff at Nasser Hospital.
Gaza’s health ministry said at least 59 people have been killed and more than 270 injured by strikes in the past 24 hours.
On Friday, Hamas said ceasefire negotiations had resumed in Qatar’s capital, Doha, and added that it was committed to reaching an agreement.
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.
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 October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and abducting around 250.
People and first responders inspect the rubble of a collapsed residential building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in the Saraya area in al-Rimal in central Gaza City on January 4,
Palestinians carry white sacks containing the bodies of those killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes on the Khan Younis refugee cam
A tent camp for displaced Palestinians is set up amid destroyed buildings in the Khan Younis refugee camp
About 100 hostages are still in Gaza, with at least a third of these believed to be dead.
Families of hostages and others have rallied weekly for months to press Mr Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire deal that would bring their loved ones home.
In a video released by Hamas on Saturday ahead of the latest weekly rally, Israeli soldier and hostage Liri Elbag, speaking under duress, expressed anguish over her situation and mentioned being held for 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 injured by the fighting in Gaza, adding, ‘We are living in an extremely terrifying nightmare.’ She did not name the person injured.
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 says other, uncounted bodies remain beneath rubble or in areas where emergency responders cannot 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.
Palestinians inspect a car targeted in an overnight Israeli airstrike that killed its occupants in the town of Khan Younis
Palestinians attend funeral prayers for two of the ten people killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes on the Khan Younis refugee camp
Smoke plumes billow during Israeli bombardment in the Saraya area in al-Rimal in central Gaza City on January 4
The war has caused widespread destruction and displaced about 90 per cent 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.
Meanwhile, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, relatives mourned an 18-year-old Palestinian who the Gazan Health Ministry said was killed on Friday during clashes with Israel’s army in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus. The ministry said nine other people were injured.
Palestinian health officials have said Israeli raids throughout the West Bank since October 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 the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has held up for over 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.