Southern Gaza hit as Israeli spy chief reportedly heads to new talks

Israeli air strikes targeted homes in the southern Gaza Strip, witnesses said on Friday, adding to what aid groups describe as an increasingly hopeless humanitarian situation despite efforts towards new truce talks.

Israeli media reported a delegation led by David Barnea, head of the Mossad intelligence agency, was heading to Paris for new truce discussions in the conflict with Hamas militants.

Hamas wrapped up ceasefire talks in Cairo and is now waiting to see what mediators bring back from weekend talks with Israel, an official from the militant group said on Friday. 

Despite the negotiation efforts, Israel's military said fighting, including with drone strikes and sniper fire, continued in the western Khan Yunis area.

More than four months of relentless fighting and bombardment have flattened much of Gaza and pushed its population of around 2.4 million to the brink of famine as disease spreads, according to the United Nations.

The UN humanitarian agency – the Office for the United Nations Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) – has blamed "limitations on the entry of aid" as well as the combat and growing insecurity for severely hampering assistance.

The ongoing conflict has killed at least 29,514 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the latest count by Gaza's health ministry.

'Animals have better lives'

For Gazans struggling to survive, any deal that could lead to greater aid flows and a halt to fighting cannot come soon enough.

"Even animals have better lives than us," said Zarifa Hamad, 62, a displaced woman living in northern Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp.

Aid agencies say the humanitarian situation is particularly acute in Gaza's north.

In a letter to the United Nations General Assembly, Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said the agency "has reached a breaking point," as donors freeze funding, Israel exerts pressure to dismantle the agency and humanitarian needs soar.

Several leading donors have suspended funding to UNRWA in response to Israeli allegations that some of its staff participated in the October 7 attack on Israel.

The UN fired the employees accused by Israel and has begun an internal probe of UNRWA, but Lazzarini said Israel has provided no evidence against the 12 employees it accuses.

In a statement on Wednesday, the head of OCHA, Martin Griffiths, joined the chiefs of almost 20 other UN and external aid groups in an appeal for "an immediate ceasefire," restoration of UNRWA funding, and other measures "so that we can provide, at the very least, the bare essentials" including drinking water and food.

(With input from agencies)