Gaza war: 13 Palestinians killed in air strikes as Israel-Hamas truce talks ‘make progress’

Heavily pregnant Ola al-Kurd, 25, was killed along with six others in the blast, but emergency workers quickly rushed her to Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza in the hope of saving the unborn child. Hours later, doctors said that a baby boy had been delivered.

The still-unnamed newborn is stable but has suffered from a shortage of oxygen and has been placed in an incubator, said Dr. Khalil Dajran. The baby boy’s father was wounded in the same strike, but survived.

Hamas’ October attack killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and militants took about 250 hostages. About 120 remain in captivity, with about a third of them believed to be dead, according to Israeli authorities.

In the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said a 20-year-old man was shot dead by Israeli forces late on Friday. Commenting on the shooting, the Israeli army said its forces opened fire on a group of Palestinians hurling rocks at Israeli troops in the town of Beit Ummar.

An eyewitness said Ibrahim Zaqeq was not directly involved in the clashes and was standing nearby.

Zaqeq “just looked at them, they shot him in the head. I picked him up from here and took him to the clinic,” said Thare Abu Hashem.

On Saturday, Hamas identified Zaqeq as one of its members. The militant group’s green flag was wrapped around his corpse during the funeral.

Violence has surged in the territory since the Gaza war began. At least 577 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli fire since then, according to the Ramallah-based Health Ministry, which tracks Palestinian deaths.

Fruitless stop-and-start negotiations between the warring sides have been under way since November’s one-week ceasefire, with both Hamas and Israel repeatedly accusing each other of scuppering the effort as it approaches a deal.