Israel bombards Gaza City overnight; Hamas leader due in Cairo in bid to salvage ceasefire talks

Israeli planes and tanks kept bombarding eastern areas of Gaza City overnight, killing at least 11 people, witnesses and medics said on Tuesday, with Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya due in Cairo for talks to revive a U.S.-backed ceasefire plan.

The latest round of indirect talks in Qatar ended in deadlock in late July with Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas trading blame over the lack of progress on a U.S. proposal for a 60-day truce and hostage release deal.

Israel has since said it will launch a new offensive and seize control of Gaza City, which it captured shortly after the war's outbreak in October 2023 before pulling out. Militants regrouped and have waged largely guerrilla-style war since then.

It is unclear how long a new Israeli military incursion into the sprawling city in north Gaza, now widely reduced to rubble, could last or how it would differ from the earlier operation.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to expand military control over Gaza, expected to be launched in October, has increased a global outcry over the widespread devastation of the territory and a hunger crisis spreading among Gaza's largely homeless population of over two million.

A Palestinian official with knowledge of the ceasefire talks said Hamas was prepared to return to the negotiating table.

However, the gaps between the sides appear to remain wide on key issues including the extent of any Israeli military withdrawal and demands for Hamas to disarm, which it has ruled out before a Palestinian state is established.

An Arab diplomat said mediators Egypt and Qatar have not given up on reviving the negotiations and that Israel's decision to announce its new Gaza City offensive plan may not be a bluff but served to bring Hamas back to the negotiating table.