Israeli strikes kill dozens in Gaza as Hamas backs new ceasefire proposal
Shafaq News – Gaza
Israeli forces carried out heavy air and artillery strikes across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people since dawn, health officials said, as famine conditions continued to worsen among displaced residents.
Emergency services reported that overnight they recovered two bodies and evacuated 53 wounded people who had been waiting for humanitarian aid in northern Gaza.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said that since the outbreak of the war, 62,004 people have been killed and 156,230 injured, with more than 10,000 still missing. It added that famine has claimed the lives of 263 people, including 112 children.
مشاهد جديدة صباح اليوم..بـ"الروبوتات المفخخة" والمتفجرات.. الاحتلال يواصل نسف عدد كبير من المنازل في حي الزيتون، جنوب شرق مدينة غزة. pic.twitter.com/LU41X9V4dr
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) August 19, 2025
Among the casualties are 1,590 medical workers, 115 civil defense personnel, 220 journalists, and 754 police officers and aid escorts.
Government figures and UN reports estimate that more than 88 percent of Gaza’s buildings have been destroyed. Overall losses exceed $62 billion, while Israeli troops currently control about 77 percent of the territory.
The destruction includes 149 schools and universities demolished, and 369 have been partially damaged. At least 828 mosques have been destroyed, 167 partly damaged, and 19 cemeteries flattened.
According to local authorities, more than 10,460 people were killed and 44,189 wounded after Israel ended a ceasefire agreement on March 18, 2025. Since May 27, when Israel restricted humanitarian aid distribution to limited checkpoints that were later targeted, 1,965 people have been killed and 14,701 wounded. Gaza officials accuse Israel of using the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” described as a joint Israeli–American initiative rejected by the United Nations, to exert political pressure under the guise of aid delivery.
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Diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting have so far failed to produce results. Talks mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States ended in Doha on July 25 without agreement.
However, the Palestinian Hamas Movement said it has delivered its formal approval to a new ceasefire proposal presented by Egyptian and Qatari mediators. According to a source quoted by Al Jazeera, the proposal includes:
-A 60-day ceasefire.
-Release of 10 living Israeli captives and 18 bodies, in exchange for 140 Palestinian prisoners serving life terms, 60 others sentenced to over 15 years, all female and juvenile detainees, and the transfer of Palestinian remains.
-Entry of aid through UN, Red Crescent, and humanitarian agencies.
-Israeli withdrawal of roughly 1,000 meters in the north and east of Gaza, except for the Shejaiya and Beit Lahia neighborhoods.
-Launch of broader negotiations to end the war once the truce takes effect.
Hamas’s acceptance comes after a meeting between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, during which both leaders underlined the urgent need to deliver aid without obstruction, secure the release of captives, and reject any reoccupation or forced displacement of Palestinians.
