Palestinians inspect the damage after Israeli airstrikes in the city of Rafah, Gaza, February 21, 2024. /CFP
Another Israeli airstrike killed at least 17 Palestinians on Wednesday while the Cairo talks were said to show "possibilities of progress."
At least 17 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed and more than 34 others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, local medical sources told the Xinhua News Agency, adding that rescue efforts are still ongoing.
More Israeli strikes continued to pound Gaza, with 118 people killed in the previous 24 hours, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
So far, the Palestinian death toll from Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip has risen to 29,313, with 69,333 others wounded, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Wednesday.
Palestinian charitable organizations distribute food to displaced people in schools in Gaza, February 20, 2024. /CFP
Hunger grips Gaza
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is worsening by the day. Combat and chaos again stalled sporadic aid deliveries for desperate civilians in Gaza, where the UN has warned the population of 2.4 million is on the brink of famine.
The UN World Food Program said it was forced to halt aid deliveries in north Gaza because of "complete chaos and violence."
Vast swathes of the territory have been entirely destroyed with many people struggling to find basic supplies.
One workshop in Rafah said it was producing makeshift diapers by hand with medical cotton, gauze and lab coat fabric – but warned their capacity is far from enough to meet demand.
"I don't have money to provide food, so how can I provide diapers for her?" said Hanan al-Bahtiti, adding that her baby gets painful skin rashes and "screams in pain."
The World Health Organization chief called the situation in Gaza "inhumane," saying the territory had become "a death zone."
Israeli armored personnel carriers move near the border with the Gaza Strip, February 21, 2024. /CFP
'Possibility of progress' in hostage release talks
The White House sent Middle East envoy Brett McGurk for renewed talks involving mediators and Hamas, a day after a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire was blocked by the U.S.
Hamas said its chief Ismail Haniyeh was already in Cairo for talks.
Israeli Wartime Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz said there were efforts to "promote a new plan for the return of the hostages and we are seeing the first signs that indicate the possibility of progress in this direction."
"We will not stop looking for a way and we will not miss any opportunity to bring our girls and boys home," he said.
But Gantz warned that if no new deal were struck, the Israeli military would keep fighting in Gaza even into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins next month.
Weeks of negotiations have failed to yield a breakthrough, with Israel dismissing Hamas' demand for a halt to the conflict and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in exchange for more hostage releases as "delusional."
During the sole pause in fighting so far, a week-long truce in late November, 110 hostages were freed in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
(With input from agencies)