Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill at least 21, hospital workers say, as talks underway

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes killed at least 21 people, including at least two children, on Saturday in Gaza, hospital staff said, while a new effort at ceasefire talks was underway in Qatar after nearly 15 months of war.

Thousands rallied again in Israel to press for a ceasefire deal, hours after Hamas released a video showing one of the hostages still held in Gaza. Such videos, like an uptick in airstrikes, have been seen as attempts to assert pressure during talks.

A small boy cried over his father in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, and a woman draped herself over one of the bodies wrapped in white plastic. Three airstrikes in the city hit a car, a house and people on the street, according to staff at Nasser Hospital.

The Civil Defense, first responders affiliated with the Hamas-run government, said an airstrike destroyed a residential area behind the Saraya complex in Gaza City, killing at least five people.

And Israeli strikes on Saturday evening killed three people in Bureij and three others in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the bodies were taken. One child was among the dead. A young man leaned against a hospital wall and wept.

Israel's military said it targeted Hamas militants with a strike near Salah al-Din in southern Gaza overnight and with a strike on a vehicle in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. It also said Hamas fired a projectile that hit near the Erez crossing into Gaza.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 59 people had been killed and more than 270 others were wounded by strikes in the past 24 hours.

There were no immediate statements on the indirect negotiations toward a ceasefire. The talks have repeatedly stalled as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to press on in Gaza until Hamas is destroyed. Fighters with Hamas, which wants Israeli forces out of Gaza completely, continue to regroup in areas where Israeli forces withdraw.

The talks are mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, which plans a $8 billion weapons sale to Israel, U.S. officials say.

The war is by far the deadliest round of fighting between Israel and Hamas. It began when Hamas and other militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Around 100 hostages are still in Gaza, at least a third believed to be dead.

Families of hostages and others have rallied weekly to press Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire deal that would bring loved ones home, saying time is running out. At Saturday night's rally in Tel Aviv, police carried away some protesters who staged a sit-in on a street.

In a video released by Hamas before the latest rally, Israeli soldier and hostage Liri Albag, speaking under duress, expressed anguish over her situation and mentioned being held 450 days.

“Today is the beginning of a new year; the whole world is celebrating. Only we are entering a dark year, a year of loneliness,” she said. She also said a fellow captive had been wounded by the fighting in Gaza, adding, “We are living in an extremely terrifying nightmare.” She didn't name the injured person.

Netanyahu's office said he spoke with Albag's parents and told them that “efforts are ongoing, including at this very moment” to bring hostages home. Albag's family in a statement said that “It’s time to make decisions as if your own children were there!”

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 45,717 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which says women and children make up more than half the dead. The ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. It says uncounted bodies remain beneath rubble or in areas where emergency responders can't reach.

Israel’s military says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths, because its fighters operate in dense residential areas. The army says it has killed 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The war has caused widespread destruction and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, many of them multiple times. Winter has now arrived, and hundreds of thousands are sheltering in tents near the sea. A small number of children have died from exposure to the cold.

Gaza's Health Ministry said in a statement that Indonesian Hospital was no longer operational after Israeli operations in the area, and said all public hospitals in the north, largely isolated by a monthslong Israeli offensive, were now out of service. Access to the north is heavily restricted and claims can be difficult to verify.

Meanwhile, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, relatives mourned an 18-year-old Palestinian who the Palestinian Health Ministry said was killed Friday during clashes with Israel’s army in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus. The ministry said that nine other people were wounded.

Palestinian health officials have said Israeli raids throughout the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023, have killed more than 800 Palestinians. Israel says most of these are militants, but youths throwing stones and people not involved in confrontations have also been killed.

A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has held up for more than a month, although its terms seem unlikely to be met by the agreed-upon 60-day deadline. Israel and Hezbollah had exchanged fire almost daily since the war in Gaza began.

Associated Press writer Natalie Melzer contributed to this report from Nahariya, Israel.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

A man mourns the death of his relatives at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital following Israeli army airstrikes in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A wounded child receives treatment at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital following Israeli army airstrikes, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday Jan. 4, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A man reacts while carrying a wounded girl to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital following Israeli army airstrikes in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday Jan. 4, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A tent camp for displaced Palestinians is set up amid destroyed buildings in the Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A tent camp for displaced Palestinians is set up amid destroyed buildings in the Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Relatives mourn during the funeral of Palestinian Muhammad Abu Amer, 18, who was killed at night in an Israeli army raid, in the West Bank refugee camp of Balata, Nablus, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Relatives mourn over the body of Palestinian Muhammad Abu Amer, 18, who was killed at night during an Israeli army raid at his funeral in the West Bank refugee camp of Balata, Nablus, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Muhammad Abu Amer, 18, who was killed at night in an Israeli army raid during his funeral in the West Bank refugee camp of Balata, Nablus, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Palestinians carry white sacks containing the bodies of those killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes on the Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians attend funeral prayers for two of the ten people killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes on the Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Mourners carry the body of a Palestinian killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes, during his funeral in the Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians inspect a car targeted in an overnight Israeli airstrike that killed its occupants in the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Relatives of a Palestinian killed in overnight Israeli strikes, mourn over his body outside the morgue of Nasser hospital in the Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The Venezuelan opposition leader who claims to have defeated President Nicolás Maduro in last year’s presidential election will meet with U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday at the White House, a senior administration official confirmed to The Associated Press.

The meeting comes as Edmundo González, a retired diplomat who represented Venezuela’s main opposition coalition in the July presidential election, tries to rally support for his effort to get Maduro out of office by Friday, when by law, the South American country's next presidential term begins. The U.S. government official was not authorized to discussed details of the visit publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

González began a tour of the Americas on Saturday with stops in Argentina and Uruguay. His campaign called on Venezuelans living in the Washington area to gather Monday outside the offices of the Organization of American States.

Meanwhile, Maduro already received an invitation from the National Assembly to be sworn in for a third six-year term Friday, more than five months after the National Electoral Council, stacked with ruling-party loyalists, declared him winner of the July 28 election.

Unlike previous presidential elections, electoral authorities did not provide detailed vote counts. However, the opposition collected tally sheets from more than 80% of the nation’s electronic voting machines, posted them online and said they showed González had won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro.

The U.S. and most European governments have rejected the election’s official results and consider González the legitimate winner.

The U.S.-based Carter Center, which Maduro’s government invited to observe the presidential election, has said the tally sheets published by the opposition are legitimate.

When asked on Monday about González's plans. Venezuela's Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello insulted the politician, attacked his credibility and threatened him with arrest. He also insisted that Maduro would be sworn in Friday.

“Coward,” Cabello said referring to the retired diplomat, whom he accused, without offering any proof, of being a CIA agent. “He has neither courage nor disposition... Mr. González Urrutia knows that as soon as he steps in Venezuela he will be arrested.”

González, who represented the Unitary Platform coalition, left Venezuela for exile in Spain in September after a judge issued a warrant for his arrest in connection with an investigation into the publishing of the election's tally sheets. Last week, the government announced a $100,000 reward for information on González's whereabouts.

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Miller reported from Washington, D.C.

Venezuela's opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia holds an Uruguayan and a Venezuelan flag outside the government residence in Montevideo, Uruguay, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Gonzalez, who claims he won the 2024 presidential election and is recognized by some countries as the legitimate president-elect, traveled from exile in Madrid to Argentina and Uruguay. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)