Israeli strikes kill 22 across Gaza

Israeli military strikes across Gaza killed at least 22 people, Palestinian medics said, as international mediators pursued efforts to seal a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal between Israel and Hamas.

An airstrike killed at least 10 people in a multi-story house in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, while another killed five in the nearby Zeitoun suburb, medics said.

In Deir Al-Balah city in central Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering, and in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, a total of seven people were killed, they said.

Israel's military said it struck Hamas militants operating in a school in Jabalia, and that it took steps to minimize risk to civilians.

Such mass casualties are a daily occurrence in Gaza, where more than 46,000 Palestinians have now been killed in Israel's 15-month-long assault against Hamas, according to health officials in the enclave.

As Israel continued its bombardments, the United States, Qatar and Egypt were making intensive efforts to reach a ceasefire deal, with one source close to the talks saying this was the most serious attempt to reach a deal so far.

The outgoing U.S. administration has called for a final push for a deal before President Joe Biden leaves office, and many in the region view president-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20 as an unofficial deadline.

Israel launched its assault after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Its Gaza campaign has laid waste to much of the enclave. Most of the territory's 2.1 million people have been displaced multiple times and face acute shortages of food and medicine, humanitarian agencies say.