• Israel acknowledges mistakes in medics’ killings
• Qatar negotiators frustrated by ‘slow process’ of truce talks
GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defence agency reported that Israeli air strikes since dawn on Sunday have killed at least 25 people across the Gaza Strip, including women and children.
The attacks continued as talks for a ceasefire failed to yield results, with Qatar’s chief negotiator voicing frustration over the pace of negotiations.
Israel resumed its aerial and ground assault on Gaza on March 18, reigniting fighting after a two-month ceasefire that had paused more than 15 months of war in the coastal territory.
“Since dawn today, the occupation’s air strikes have killed 20 people and injured dozens more, including children and women across the Gaza Strip,” Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defence agency, told AFP.
In a separate statement later, the agency reported that five people were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a group of civilians in eastern Rafah.
Since Israel resumed its offensive last month, at least 1,827 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Israel military probe
Meanwhile, the head of an Israeli military probe into the killing of 15 Palestinian emergency workers in Gaza acknowledged on Sunday “mistakes” on the part of troops involved in the incident.
But while acknowledging operational failures and saying that a field commander would be dismissed, the Israeli military insisted there was no “indiscriminate fire” by its troops.
The medics and other rescue workers were killed while responding to a distress call near Rafah in the early hours of March 23, days after Israel launched its renewed offensive in Gaza.
They sparked international condemnation, including concern about possible “war crimes” from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk.
Israel insisted there were six militants in the ambulances that came under fire near the southern city of Rafah on that day.
“The troops did not engage in indiscriminate fire but remained alert to respond to real threats identified by them,” the military said in a summary of the probe.
“The IDF (military) regrets the harm caused to uninvolved civilians,” the probe added.
“The examination identified several professional failures, breaches of orders, and a failure to fully report the incident,” the army said.
It added that a deputy commander “will be dismissed from his position due to his responsibilities as the field commander… and for providing an incomplete and inaccurate report during the debrief”.
The bodies of the killed men were found buried near the site of the shooting in the Tal al-Sultan area, in what OCHA described as a mass grave. Their ambulances and other vehicles were also buried alongside them.
‘Frustration’
Separately, Qatar’s chief negotiator voiced frustration over talks for a truce in Gaza in an interview with AFP, a month after Israel resumed its strikes on the Palestinian territory and another round of negotiations ended without a deal.
“We’re definitely frustrated by the slowness, sometimes, of the process in the negotiation. This is an urgent matter. There are lives at stake here if this military operation continues day by day,” Mohammed Al-Khulaifi said on Friday.
Qatar, with the United States and Egypt, brokered a truce in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, which came into force on January 19.
The initial phase of the truce ended in early March, with the two sides unable to agree on the next steps.
Late on Thursday, Hamas signalled the group would not accept Israel’s newest proposal for a 45-day ceasefire.
Israel had wanted the release of 10 living hostages held by the Palestinian group, Hamas said.
“We’ve been working continuously in the last days to try to bring the parties together and revive the agreement that has been endorsed by the two sides,” the Qatari minister of state said.
“And we will remain committed to this, in spite of the difficulties,” he added.
