Israeli airstrikes kill 40 Palestinians in Gaza amid fears of wider war

GAZA, Aug 09 (Agencies): Israeli forces stepped up airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least 40 people, Palestinian medics said, in further battle with Hamas-led militants as Israel braced for potential wider war in the region.
Israeli airstrikes hit a cluster of houses in central Gaza's Al-Bureij camp, killing at least 15 people, and the nearby Al-Nuseirat camp, killed four, medics said. Nuseirat and Bureij are among the densely populated enclave's eight historic camps and seen by Israel as strongholds of armed militants.
Israeli aircraft also bombed a house in the heart of Gaza City in the north, killing five Palestinians, while another airstrike in the southern city of Khan Younis killed one person and wounded others, according to medics.
Later on Thursday, 15 Palestinians were killed and 30 injured in Israeli bombings of two schools east of Gaza City, the territory's Civil Emergency Service said in a statement.
The Israeli military said it struck Hamas command and control centres embedded in the Abdel-Fattah Hamouda and Al-Zahra schools in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City, where Hamas militants were operating.
It accused Hamas of exploiting civilians and civilian properties for military purposes, an allegation Hamas denies.
Footage circulated on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed casualties being brought to a hospital on donkey carts.
The armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they were firing anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs at Israeli forces operating across Gaza, causing deaths and injuries among them.
Israel's military said it had struck dozens of military targets across Gaza over the past 24 hours, including rocket launching pads.
Since then, at least 39,699 Palestinians have been killed, including 22 within the past 24 hours, and 91,722 injured in Israel's devastating air and ground war in Gaza, the Gaza health ministry said in an update on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Crowds fleeing Khan Yunis after an Israeli evacuation order gave way to empty streets on Friday as Palestinian residents tried to escape a new Israeli military operation in Gaza's main southern area.
"They threw leaflets at us, ordering us to evacuate", Reem Abu Hayya told AFP, referring to the flyers that Israeli forces drop from planes to order the evacuation of areas ahead of a military operation.
The Khan Yunis area had already seen evacuation orders in late July, and heavy fighting that devastated the area earlier this year.
Israel agrees to resume Gaza
truce talks next week
Israel has agreed to resume Gaza ceasefire talks on August 15 at the demand of US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Thursday, as regional tensions skyrocket over the war.
Gaza's Hamas-controlled civil defence agency said Israeli bombardment killed more than 18 people in strikes on two schools on Thursday, as Iran accused Israel of wanting to spread war in the Middle East.
After a week-long pause in November, US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators have endeavoured to secure a second truce in the 10-month-old war sparked by Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel.
Mediators invite Israel, Hamas
to resume ceasefire talks Aug 15
The leaders of the United States, Qatar and Egypt on Thursday called for Israel and Hamas to resume negotiations in either Doha or Cairo next week to overcome differences over a ceasefire deal.
In a joint statement, the three mediators invited the warring parties to resume talks on August 15 "to close all remaining gaps and commence implementation of the deal without further delay."
The letter signed by Qatar's emir and the presidents of the US and Egypt said a framework agreement was "now on the table, with only the details of implementation" left to conclude.
"As mediators, if necessary, we are prepared to present a final bridging proposal that resolves the remaining implementation issues in a manner that meets the expectations of all parties," it said.
Qatar has been engaged in months of behind-the-scenes negotiations, with support from Egypt and the United States, in efforts to reach a truce in Gaza and a hostage release deal.
A prospective cessation of hostilities has centred around a phased deal beginning with an initial truce.
Recent discussions have focused on a framework outlined by US President Joe Biden in late May which he said had been proposed by Israel.
The latest framework agreement "is based on the principles" previously outlined by Biden, the statement said.
"The time has come to conclude the ceasefire and hostages and detainees release deal," it added, saying "there is no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay."