Tue Dec 24 21:08:03 UTC 2024: ## Israeli Raids Kill at Least Eight in Gaza, Including Civil Defence Workers; Ceasefire Talks Continue

**Gaza City, Palestine –** At least eight Palestinians, including two members of Gaza’s Civil Defence, have been killed in a series of Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip, rescue services and Al Jazeera reporters reported Tuesday. The attacks, which included drone strikes and shelling, targeted both residential areas and Civil Defence headquarters.

A devastating raid on a home in Jabalia al-Nazla, northern Gaza, resulted in the deaths of at least six Palestinians, with Al Jazeera reporting that three children’s bodies remain trapped under the rubble. The Israeli military’s targeting of Civil Defence facilities has severely hampered rescue efforts, with at least 14 centres destroyed and 56 vehicles, including ambulances and fire engines, lost. The near-total collapse of Civil Defence services in northern Gaza has left civilians undertaking dangerous rescue operations themselves.

Among the casualties were firefighter Nabil Bahloul and his son, killed in a drone strike targeting Civil Defence headquarters in Gaza City. Another Civil Defence worker, Najib Sakr, perished in a bombing in the Daraj neighbourhood. Ahmed al-Madhoun, a Civil Defence member, described the chaotic scene, stating that his team was targeted while responding to an earlier strike.

The escalating violence comes as a mid-level Israeli ceasefire negotiating team returned to Tel Aviv after a week of talks in Qatar. Meanwhile, an Israeli military investigation concluded that the presence of Israeli troops inadvertently contributed to the deaths of six Israeli captives held by Hamas. The captives, discovered dead in a tunnel, had survived for nearly 330 days in Gaza before being killed by their captors.

The ongoing conflict, which began in October 2023, has claimed the lives of at least 45,338 Palestinians and injured over 107,764, according to Palestinian sources. In Israel, at least 1,139 people were killed in the initial Hamas attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.

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