Israel kills 5 Palestinians in Gaza airstrikes despite ceasefire talks

By Ramzi Mahmud and Mohammad Sio

GAZA CITY, Palestine / ISTANBUL (AA) – The Israeli army killed five Palestinians in a series of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, despite ongoing ceasefire negotiations in Egypt, medics and witnesses said.

In Gaza City, two Palestinians were killed in separate strikes on homes in the Al-Jalaa and Al-Nasr neighborhoods in the city’s northwest, medical sources said.

East of the city, rescuers recovered the body of a Palestinian killed when a home was hit near Al-Shawa Square in Al-Daraj neighborhood.

Additional strikes targeted the Al-Tuffah and Al-Zeitoun neighborhoods in the east and southeast, though no casualties were reported in those areas.

In central Gaza, Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian man near an aid distribution center along the Netzarim Corridor. Another was killed when an Israeli drone shelled a group of civilians near Wadi Gaza.

The escalation comes as the war entered its third year, with indirect talks between Israel and Hamas underway in Egypt since Monday to discuss US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the conflict.

The 20-point plan, announced Sept. 29, includes the release of Israeli captives in Gaza, a ceasefire, and the disarmament of Hamas. The Palestinian group agreed to the plan in principle.

Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed nearly 67,200 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it uninhabitable.