GAZA STRIP: Another baby in Gaza died of hypothermia as Israel pounded the Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing at least 23 people, according to rescuers.

The latest deaths come after Israel late on Saturday said indirect negotiations had resumed in Qatar for a truce and hostage release deal.

Al Jazeera reported on Sunday that it is the eighth such death of a baby amid the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip.

An air strike on a house early on Sunday in northern Gaza’s Sheikh Radwan area killed at least 11 people, according to Civil Defence Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal. He said the victims included women and children.

“Rescuers are still searching for five people trapped under the rubble of the house,” he said, adding his crew members were using “bare hands” in the effort.

The Israeli military said on Sunday it had struck more than 100 targets in Gaza over the past two days, marking an apparent escalation in its assault.

The escalation coincides with indirect negotiations for a ceasefire and prisoner release deal that both sides said were to resume this weekend in Qatar.

Mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States have tried for months to strike a deal to end the war and secure the release of dozens of prisoners held in Gaza. The latest effort comes just days before Donald Trump takes office as president of the United States on Jan 20.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Sunday that 88 people were killed in the Palestinian territory in the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll of the war to 45,805. The ministry also stated that at least 109,064 people had been wounded in nearly 15 months of Israeli aggression in Gaza.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2025