US says ceasefire talks are 'progressing positively' as over 90 killed in Gaza in 24 hours

US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has claimed that ongoing talks to reach a ceasefire in Gaza are progressing positively, while Israel continued with its deadly airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, killing at least 90 Palestinians in 24 hours.

Witkoff’s comments come after US President Donald Trump said during a ceremony in Washington that he had some good news regarding Gaza.

Israeli media also reported this week that talks between mediators in Qatar and Israel have been progressing after the delegation from Tel Aviv presented new maps, which showed "flexibility" on their part.

A source familiar with the talks told The Jerusalem Post that "the focus is now no longer on the Morag Axis, but rather on Israel’s presence in the Rafah area, which is where the discussions are currently centred".

The source added that mediators have shown optimism regarding the new maps presented and that it increased the chances of reaching an agreement soon.

Israeli news site Ynet quoted an official in the security cabinet who said on Wednesday, "this brings us much closer to the deal…it is possible to reach an agreement with Hamas soon".

However, Israel’s Channel 11 pointed out that while there had been progress in talks, there are still disagreements regarding the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners, noting that the latter has not been discussed in-depth as of yet. 

Israeli forces kill 93 people

On the ground however, deadly Israeli attacks continued, destroying residential homes in Gaza City and Khan Younis, with at least 18 people killed since dawn on Thursday.

Local sources said early on Thursday that Israeli shelling targeted the Abu Helu School located in the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, where hundreds of displaced families were seeking refuge.

Medical sources announced that at least 93 Palestinians, including 30 people waiting for food aid, had been killed in Gaza over the last 24-hour period, while the death toll continues to rise.

The US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution company said that its Khan Younis site will be closed today for maintenance, a day after at least 20 were killed, including 15 from a stampede and suffocation from tear gas fired at them.

Hundreds of desperate Palestinians have been killed at its aid sites, mostly by Israeli fire, in recent weeks.

Palestine’s ministry of health also on Thursday published a list of all the Palestinians who have been recorded and identified as dead since the start of the war in October 2023.

The 2,086-page document was published on Telegram and has the ID, name, gender and other details of 58,380 people on it. Among those named on the list are around 953 children under the age of one.

UNICEF’s executive director highlighted that an average of 28 children are killed daily in Gaza since the start of the war and that malnutrition has soared, with nearly 6,000 children now acutely malnourished in June, marking an 180 percent increase since February.

UN official Tom Fletcher said, "words fail to describe the situation in Gaza," amid the rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

Also on Thursday, two members of Israel's Battalion 202 paratrooper brigade were "seriously injured" in fighting in northern Gaza. The Israeli army did not provide further details, but the soldiers were evacuated for medical treatment in Israel.

Israel’s war on Gaza has levelled entire neighbourhoods, targeted humanitarian safe zones and been determined a genocide by Amnesty International and other global NGOs, as well as many governments.