Palestinians perform the first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan near the ruins of a destroyed mosque by the Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Friday, March 15, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Displaced by Israeli bombardment, the Tabatibi family gathered in central Gaza to eat together during the first Friday night of Ramzan, a scene that soon turned into a bloodbath.

An air strike hit the building where they were staying as women prepared the pre-fasting meal, killing 36 members of the family, survivors said on Saturday. The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza blamed Israel for the strike in Nuseirat.

“This is my mother, this is my father, this is my aunt, and these are my brothers,” 19-year-old Mohammed al-Tabatibi, whose left hand was injured in the strike, said through tears at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in nearby Deir al-Balah.

“They bombed the house while we were in it. My mother and my aunt were preparing the suhoor food. They were all martyred.”

Stacked bodies

He spoke as bodies were spread out in the hospital courtyard, then stacked on a truck to be driven to a cemetery.

Because there were not enough body bags, some of the dead — including at least two children — were wrapped in white cloth stained with blood.

The strike in Nuseirat was one of 60 “deadly air strikes” reported overnight by the press office of the Hamas-run government, from Gaza City in the north to Rafah in the south.

“This is a bloody night, a very bloody night,” said Salama Maarouf of the Hamas-run government media office.

Palestinians walk past the rubble of a destroyed building due to Israeli bombardment on the second day of the of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on March 12, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Israel and Hamas are not close to a deal to halt the fighting in Gaza and free hostages, mediator Qatar said on Tuesday, warning that the situation remained “very complicated”.

Despite weeks of talks involving U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators, the Muslim holy month of Ramzan began on March 11 without the start of a truce and hostage exchange they had aimed for.

“We are not near a deal, meaning that we are not seeing both sides converging on language that can resolve the current disagreement over the implementation of a deal,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said.

All parties were “continuing to work in the negotiations to reach a deal hopefully within the confines of Ramadan”, Mr. Ansari told a news conference. But he added that he could not “offer any timeline” on an agreement while the conflict remained “very complicated on the ground”.

The war started with the October 7 Hamas attack that resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on Israeli official figures.

The militants also took around 250 hostages, dozens of whom were released during a week-long truce in November. Israel believes 99 hostages remain alive in Gaza, along with the bodies of 31.

Israel’s retaliatory bombardment and ground offensive have killed 31,112 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Qatar’s role as the mediator

Qatar previously mediated a one-week break in fighting in late November that led to the release of scores of Israeli and foreign hostages, as well as aid entering the besieged Palestinian territory.

Mr. Ansari was asked whether Qatar had exerted pressure on Hamas, which has its political office in Doha, in efforts to reach a truce. “As a mediator that has been exchanging views between both sides, I don’t think it is useful to use such terminology (of) pressure or using leverage,” he said.

But he said Qatar was “certainly using everything that we have in our capabilities to push both sides to an agreement”.

The wealthy Gulf emirate, which hosts the largest US military base in West Asia, is also the main residence of the Islamists’ self-exiled leader Ismail Haniyeh.

On Sunday, Mr. Haniyeh said the Palestinian militant group was still open to talks with Israel but added Hamas wanted a durable ceasefire, a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the return of displaced Gazans to their homes and more access to humanitarian aid.

Israel has rejected a complete withdrawal of its troops, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue his campaign to destroy Hamas, even after any truce deal.