As a result of Israeli strikes in southern Gaza, 19 people were killed, according to health officials

At least 19 Palestinians, including eight children, were killed by Israeli airstrikes in southern Gaza overnight, local health officials said.

A mother and her four children were reportedly killed in a strike on a tent camp for displaced people in al-Mawassi, while another couple and their children were killed in the nearby town of Khan Younis.

The Israeli military said it carried out several strikes against Hamas fighters involved in an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered the Gaza war.

Deadly strikes were also reported in central and northern Gaza, with the Hamas-run health ministry saying 51 people were killed across the territory in the past 24 hours.

In the north, the bodies of at least six people, including an infant, were recovered from two houses in Gaza City that were damaged, according to the Hamas-run Civil Defense Agency.

Meanwhile, three people were killed in a strike in downtown Deir el-Balah, and another infant was killed in the city’s nearby Bureij refugee camp, medics said.

There was no comment from the Israeli military regarding these strikes.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health also made an urgent appeal for fuel to run generators at hospitals in the south of the country. He warned that generators would stop working within hours, putting the lives of hundreds of patients at risk.

It came as indirect talks on a ceasefire and hostage release continued in Qatar, with US President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy saying “great progress” had been made.

Steven Witkoff said at a news conference in Florida on Tuesday that he would soon travel to Doha to join talks mediated by Qatari, Egyptian and US officials.

“I really hope that we will have a lot of good things to announce on behalf of the president before the inauguration,” he added.

Trump, meanwhile, repeated his threat that “all hell will break loose in the Middle East” if Hamas does not release the 100 hostages it is still holding before he takes office on January 20.

Hamas and Israel accuse each other of impeding progress on an agreement.

Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s attack on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.

Since then, more than 45,930 people have died in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry.