29 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza

Qatar 'will need time' for Gaza ceasefire

FE Team | Published: July 09, 2025 00:20:20

A Palestinian man carries a mattress after an Israeli strike which hit a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Al-Bureij camp in Gaza on Tuesday -- AFP

GAZA, July 08 (AFP): Gaza's civil defence agency on Tuesday said that 29 people were killed in Israeli strikes across the Palestinian territory devastated by 21 months of war.
Among those were nine people killed in a drone strike on a camp for displaced people near Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza, according to civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal.
Shaimaa Al-Shaer, 30, a resident of the Al-Sanabel camp, told AFP: "I was in front of my tent preparing breakfast for my four children-beans and a bit of dry bread. Suddenly, there was an explosion.
"Smoke and dust filled the area. Debris and stones flew in all directions and hit our tent," she added.
"Four children who were playing in front of the neighbouring tent were injured. I saw people carrying martyrs. We don't know where death comes from, the bombings continue."
Bassal said that 20 other people, including at least three children and two women, were killed in six other strikes on Tuesday across the Gaza Strip.
Qatar said Tuesday more time was needed for negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, after US President Donald Trump voiced optimism about a possible breakthrough.
"I don't think that I can give any timeline at the moment, but I can say right now that we will need time for this," Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said as indirect
negotiations con
tinued into a third day in Doha.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington, meanwhile, on his third visit to the White House since Trump returned to power.
Trump, who is pushing for a ceasefire, expressed confidence a deal could be reached, saying: "I don't think there is a hold-up. I think things are going along very well."
Qatar, a mediator along with the United States and Egypt, said the meetings in Doha were focused on a framework for the talks, while a Palestinian official close to the negotiations said no breakthrough had been achieved so far.