On Saturday, US President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss a ceasefire in Gaza, according to Netanyahu’s office. Following the meeting, Netanyahu sent a high-level delegation to Qatar, including the head of the Israeli Mossad intelligence agency, to “advance” talks to return hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Earlier on Saturday, an Israeli official indicated that some progress had been made in indirect discussions between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which were mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, to achieve an agreement in Gaza.

The mediators are making repeated efforts to achieve an agreement to end the fighting in the enclave and rescue the remaining Israeli hostages held there before Trump takes office on January 20. A deal would also include the release of certain Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails. Families of Israeli captives applauded Netanyahu’s decision to dispatch the officials, which the captives and Missing Families Forum Headquarters described as a “historic opportunity.” Witkoff came in Doha on Friday and met with Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, according to the Qatari foreign ministry. According to Egyptian security sources, Witkoff reassured Egyptian and Qatari mediators that the US would continue to strive toward a fair deal to end the war soon, albeit he did not give any details

Israel initiated its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters crossed its borders in October 2023, murdering 1,200 Palestinians and kidnapping more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. According to Palestinian health officials, more than 46,000 people have died in Gaza since then, with much of the territory destroyed and gripped by a humanitarian crisis that has displaced the majority of its inhabitants.

On Saturday, the Palestinian civil emergency agency said that eight persons were murdered, including two women and two children, in an Israeli airstrike on a former school housing displaced families in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military stated that the strike targeted Hamas militants operating at the school and that precautions had been taken to lessen the danger of civilian casualties. Later on Saturday, the Gaza Civil Emergency Service reported that five individuals were killed and several more injured in two Israeli attacks. One of the two attacks killed three persons in a house near Gaza City’s Daraj neighbourhood. The Israeli military claimed it hit a Hamas militant “in that area” around that time.