Quintuplets among dozens killed

At least 29 dead following strikes across Gaza as Blinken visits Israel seeking ceasefire deal

- WAFAA SHURAFA AND SAMY MAGDY

Israeli strikes across Gaza killed 29 people including young quintuplets overnight and into Sunday, health officials said, as US. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel to try to seal a ceasefire deal that could help ease soaring regional tensions.

The U.S. and fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar have said they were closing in on a deal after two days of talks in Doha, with Israeli officials expressing cautious optimism. But Hamas in a statement Sunday accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of setting new conditions, including his refusal of a complete withdrawal of forces from Gaza.

The evolving proposal calls for a three-phase process in which Hamas would release all hostages abducted during its Oct. 7 attack, which triggered the deadliest war fought between Israelis and Palestinians. In exchange, Israel would withdraw its forces from Gaza and release Palestinian prisoners.

The war has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, displaced the vast majority of the territory's 2.3 million residents and led experts to warn of famine and the outbreak of diseases like polio.

"It is as if we live a primitive life," said Sanaa Akela, a displaced Palestinian in the central town of Deir al-Balah, where sewage flooded some streets.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted around 250. Of those, some 110 are still believed to be in Gaza, though Israeli authorities say around a third are dead. More than 100 hostages were released in November during a weeklong ceasefire.