Israel massacres 21 more Gazans; toll rises to 40,476

Dozens of Palestinians, including women and children, were martyred and wounded Tuesday in the Israeli occupation's ongoing brutal aggression on the Gaza Strip.

Ten Palestinians, including three women and a child, were killed in a missile attack that targeted two residential apartments in the Tuffah neighbourhood and Yarmouk Street in Gaza City, Palestinian news agency (WAFA) reported, citing medical sources.

Seven more Palestinians, including women and children, were martyred after the occupation forces targeted an apartment in the Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip, while the occupation's artillery targeted the eastern areas of Deir al-Balah.

In the southern Gaza Strip, four Palestinians were martyred and others were injured in the occupation's shelling of a house in Khan Younis camp. Artillery shelling also hit several areas east of Khan Younis city, coinciding with the warplanes launching two airstrikes.

The death toll from the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7 has risen to at least 40,476 and 93,647 wounded, the Gaza health ministry said

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 UN, 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.

Meanwhile, Israeli special forces have recovered an Israeli hostage from a tunnel in southern Gaza in "a complex rescue operation", the military said Tuesday, more than 10 months after he was abducted by gunmen.

It said 52-year-old Qaid Farhan Alkadi, a member of the Bedouin community in southern Israel who worked as a security guard on a kibbutz near the Gaza border, had been transferred to hospital and his condition was stable.

The United States remains committed to defending Israel in any Iranian attack, and was hopeful about a possible Gaza ceasefire agreement, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said.

Kirby told Israel's Channel 12 that it was tough to predict the chances of an attack but the White House takes Iranian statements seriously.

"We believe that they are still postured and poised to launch an attack should they want to do that, which is why we have that enhanced force posture in the region," he said.

"Our messaging to Iran is consistent, has been and will stay consistent. One, don't do it. There's no reason to escalate this. There's no reason to potentially start some sort of all-out regional war. And number two, we are going to be prepared to defend Israel if it comes to that."

Negotiations on a ceasefire to end the war in Gaza are continuing in Qatar, a US official said Tuesday, after an earlier round of talks wrapped up in Cairo amid growing regional tensions. US President Joe Biden's Middle East point man Brett McGurk is in Doha for the talks aimed at halting the 10-month conflict between Israel and Hamas, the official told AFP, on condition of anonymity.-