Israel frees hostage in Gaza, battles Hamas, as displaced families seek safety

By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Ramadan Abed and James Mackenzie

CAIRO/GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Palestinians displaced by fighting in the Gaza Strip crowded onto the seashore as Israeli forces continued to battle Hamas fighters in central and southern areas, freeing one hostage in an operation in the south of the enclave on Tuesday.

Gaza's health officials reported that at least 22 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli military strikes across the territory.

As ceasefire talks were continuing in Cairo with little sign of a concrete breakthrough over key issues separating the sides,

Israel said it had rescued Qaid Farhan Alkadi, taken hostage on Oct. 7, after a "complex operation" in southern Gaza. It said his medical condition was normal.

In recent days, Israel has issued several evacuation orders across Gaza, the most since the beginning of the 10-month war, prompting an outcry from Palestinians, the United Nations, and relief officials over the reduction of humanitarian zones and the absence of safe areas.

Residents and displaced families in the southern city of Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah, in central Gaza, where most of the population is now concentrated, said they have been pushed to live in tents now packed on the beach.

"Maybe they should bring ships, so next time they order people to leave we can jump there, people are now on the beach near the seawater," said Aya, 30, a displaced woman from Gaza City, who now lives with her family in western Deir Al-Balah.

"Every day they say talks are progressing, an agreement is close, then all falls like dust. Do negotiators know that every day more families get wiped out by Israeli bombardment? Does the world understand that every day more costs us more lives?" she told Reuters via a chat app.

Palestinian health officials said Israeli strikes killed nine Palestinians in Bureij and Maghazi, two of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, while another strike killed five people in Khan Younis and a third killed three others in Rafah.

At the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, relatives of those killed in Maghazi camp arrived to say farewell to their loved ones before burials.

"Suddenly we heard them saying that they (Israel) struck the building, they struck the building, we started calling them on their mobile phone but no one was answering, then we called the neighbours and they told us that the building has been struck, the missile fell inside our son's house," said Palestinian woman Umm Mohamed Thabet.

She said her daughter and her daughter-in-law had been killed, along with her 12 and five-year old grandsons and a granddaughter, whose twin survived.

"Those who are inside the house, look who they are, women and children, these are their targets."

Later on Tuesday, an Israeli air strike killed five Palestinians, including three children, in Khan Younis, medics said.

More than 40,400 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to Gaza's health ministry. The crowded enclave has been laid to waste and most of its 2.3 million people have been displaced multiple times and face acute shortages of food and medicine, humanitarian agencies say.

The conflict was triggered after Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7 killing 1,200 and taking more than 250 hostages, by Israeli tallies.

UN AID OPERATIONS HALTED

On Monday, United Nations aid operations in Gaza ground to a halt after Israel issued new evacuation orders on Sunday for Deir Al-Balah, where the U.N. operations center was located, a senior U.N. official said.

The evacuation order came as the U.N. has been preparing a campaign to vaccinate an estimated 640,000 children in Gaza against polio, after at least one case of the disease was identified.

As the fighting continued, negotiators in Cairo continued meetings aimed at halting the fighting and bringing 109 Israeli and foreign hostages home in an exchange deal for Palestinian prisoners.

Although there has been optimism from the United States, which is supporting the talks along with Egypt and Qatar, Hamas and Israel have been trading blame for a lack of progress.

Among the main sticking points has been Israel's insistence on maintaining control over the so-called Philadelphi corridor on the border with Egypt, which Israel says has been used as one of the main routes for smuggling weapons into Gaza.

Israel has also insisted on checks on people moving from southern and central Gaza into northern areas across the Netzarim corridor, running across the centre of the Gaza Strip, saying it needs to ensure armed fighters cannot move north.

(Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi. Additional reporting by Ramadan Abed in Gaza and James MacKenzie in Jerusalem; Editing by Sharon Singleton)