US Envoys in Israel as Fresh Strikes Kill Dozens in Gaza

A new round of Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip killed dozens of Palestinians, health officials said, as senior US officials arrived in Israel for talks aimed at stabilizing a fragile ceasefire and reviving broader negotiations.

The latest fatalities came amid tit-for-tat escalations that have repeatedly punctured the truce announced earlier this month.

Gaza’s health authorities reported additional deaths and injuries from strikes in central and southern areas, with civil defence teams continuing to pull bodies from collapsed buildings.

Cumulative figures from the territory’s health ministry indicate the overall death toll since October 2023 has surpassed 68,000, with tens of thousands more wounded and thousands missing.

Washington has intensified shuttle diplomacy after a weekend in which Israeli forces struck multiple sites following militant attacks that killed two Israeli soldiers.

US Vice President JD Vance landed in Israel for meetings with the prime minister and war cabinet, and plans to meet hostage families as part of efforts to keep the ceasefire framework from unravelling.

Other US envoys are holding parallel talks with regional mediators in Cairo and Doha to press for further hostages remains to be returned and to expand humanitarian access.

Israeli leaders say they will continue to target militant infrastructure and enforce clearer separation lines intended to reduce clashes along the truce demarcations.

Palestinian factions accuse Israel of repeated violations and insist that sustained aid delivery and prisoner exchanges are integral to stabilising the deal. Aid groups, meanwhile, warn that the flow of assistance remains far below commitments, with fuel, medical supplies, and food convoys still constrained by security checks and damaged roads.

Diplomats said discussions this week will focus on shoring up monitoring mechanisms for the ceasefire, accelerating body and hostage exchanges, and widening humanitarian corridors. Security analysts cautioned that without rapid improvements in daily conditions, each flare-up risks collapsing the truce entirely, pulling the region back toward broader conflict.

Sources: The Guardian, Al Jazeera.