Israeli Bombings Kill 20 Palestinians in Rafah

On Sunday night, at least 20 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on three residential buildings in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah.

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The victims include children and women. Many others were still trapped under the rubble, local sources told Xinhua, adding that civil defense crews were working to rescue them.

The strikes took place just ahead of the new round of truce talks between Hamas leaders and Egyptian mediators in Cairo.

On Monday, a Hamas delegation is scheduled to visit Cairo to deliver the movement's response regarding a ceasefire in Gaza and to negotiate a hostage-for-prisoner swap deal with Israel, according to a source from the movement.

The source, who preferred not to mention his name, added that the delegation is headed by Khalil Al-Hayya, the Hamas deputy chief in Gaza.

Over the past 24 hours, the Israeli army killed 66 Palestinians and wounded 138 others, bringing the total death toll to 34,454 and injuries to 77,575 since the Israeli offensive broke out on Oct. 7, 2023. 

On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged that he has not seen any plan from Israel that would guarantee protection of civilians against an invasion against Rafah.

"In the absence of a plan that guarantees that civilians will not be harmed, we cannot support a large-scale military operation in Rafah and we have not yet seen a plan that gives us confidence that civilians can be effectively protected," he said during the special session of the World Economic Forum (WEF), held in Riyadh.