Fresh Israel strikes in Gaza kill 19

Mourners carry the bodies of two Palestinians killed in an Israeli air strike in Jenin. Pic/AFP

Israeli strikes across Gaza killed 19 people overnight, including a woman and her six children, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed to the region on Sunday to try to seal a cease-fire deal after months of contentious negotiations.

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 signaled resistance. The latest Israeli bombardment included a strike early Sunday on a home in the central town of Deir al-Balah that killed a woman and her six children, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. An Associated Press reporter at the hospital counted the bodies.

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The children's grandfather, said his daughter, a school teacher, was with her husband and their six children when their house was struck. He said the children ranged in age from 18 months to 15 years, and that four of them were quadruplets. "The six children have become body parts. They were placed in a single bag," he told reporters.

A strike in the northern town of Jabaliya hit two apartments in a residential building, killing two men, a woman and her daughter, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Another strike in central Gaza killed four people, according to the 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.

Six
No. of children killed from same family

Israeli forces kill 20 terrorists in Gaza

Israeli troops, over the past day, eliminated approximately 20 terrorists. Israel said its forces continue operational activity in the areas of Khan Younis and Dir El-Balah. The Israel Air Force struck targets in the area from which rockets were fired toward Nirim in Israel on Friday. The assault destroyed loaded launchers in the area of Khan Younis. Over the past day, Israeli forces eliminated terrorists and located a large number of weapons, including grenades, Kalashnikovs, and explosives.

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