Blasts seen and heard in northern Gaza in early morning

Reuters. Several explosions were seen and loud blasts heard over northern Gaza in the early morning on Friday (July 18).

The blasts came after Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. presented Israel and Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas with an updated Gaza ceasefire proposal, Axios reported on Thursday (July 17), citing sources.

Israeli and Hamas negotiators have been taking part in the latest round of ceasefire talks in Doha since July 6, discussing a U.S.-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, Israeli tallies show.

Gaza’s health ministry said Israel’s subsequent military assault has killed over 58,000 Palestinians.