Israel Strikes Gaza Amid Ceasefire Talks in Qatar

Gaza: The Israeli Air Force has carried out air strikes in the Gaza Strip. At least eight people have been killed in these attacks, including a local reporter. Palestinian doctors gave this information on Saturday. The hospital has reported that the bodies of eight people who lost their lives in two air strikes in the northern city of Bet Lahiya area on Saturday have been brought. Fares Awad, head of emergency services in northern Gaza, identified one of the dead as local journalist Mahmoud Islam.

This attack by Israel in Gaza has come at a time when talks are going on in Qatar to extend the ceasefire agreement. Since the end of the first phase of the temporary ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, negotiators are looking for a way for further talks. According to the information, the US has proposed to extend the first phase till April, in which there will be an exchange of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. However, no agreement has been reached on this yet.

Hamas stated its condition

Hamas said on Saturday that it would hand over the bodies of an American-Israeli and four other hostages only when Israel implements the ceasefire agreement. A senior Hamas official said that Israel would have to stop blocking the entry of humanitarian aid and withdraw from a strategic corridor on Gaza's border with Egypt.

According to AP, the Hamas official, while discussing the closed-door talks in Qatar, said that Hamas would demand the release of more Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the hostages. Hamas still has a total of 59 hostages, of which 35 are estimated to be dead. Also in Gaza is 21-year-old Aidan Alexander, who grew up in the US city of Tenafly, New Jersey. He is the last surviving American citizen held hostage in Gaza.