Israeli strikes kill 10 Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank amid new ceasefire talks

Israeli attacks on Tuesday killed six people in central and southern Gaza, while four people, including an elderly woman, killed in West Bank's Jenin, reports Al Jazeera.

The attacks came as Arab mediators and the United States tried to hammer out differences between Hamas and Israel over a 19 January ceasefire agreement.

The Israeli military said its air force attacked "terrorists who were engaged in a suspicious activity on the ground in central Gaza and posed a threat to the force".

Israel sent a delegation to the Qatari capital, Doha, for more ceasefire talks, and Hamas leaders ended a round of talks in Cairo earlier this week. But there has been no sign of a breakthrough to resolve the disputes that threaten a return to armed conflict, reports Reuters.

Fighting in Gaza has been halted since 19 January under a first phase of the truce, and Hamas has exchanged 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Hamas wants to begin talks on a second phase that was supposed to reach an agreement over Israel's full pullout from the enclave. Israel demands that Hamas free the remaining hostages without beginning phase two negotiations.

On Tuesday, Hamas accused Israel of trying to cause famine in Gaza by continuing to suspend the entry of aid and also by its decision to sever its last working line of electricity to the enclave, a move that impacted a water desalination and sewage treatment facility.

"We call on mediators to pressure the occupation to abide by its pledges and open the crossings immediately, to ensure the flow of humanitarian aid and end the policy of collective punishment pursued by the occupation authorities against our people," it said in a statement.

Israel cut aid flows of food, medicine, and fuel imports earlier this month, a move it said was designed to pressure militant group Hamas in ceasefire talks. On Sunday, it announced an electricity cut, which aid groups say would deprive Gazans of clean water.

Israel launched a major military operation in Jenin following the January ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza.

Since then, forces have demolished homes and infrastructure, forcing tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee northern parts of the West Bank, AP reports. 

Hamas carried out a cross-border raid into southern Israel on 7 October 2023, triggering an Israeli offensive into the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.

Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.