J652-GAZA EXPLOSION CLINICA DEIR AL BALAH

An Israeli strike hit Palestinians near a medical center in Gaza on Thursday (July 10), killing 16 including children and wounding more people, local health authorities said, as ceasefire talks dragged on with no result expected soon.

Videos on Thursday verified by Reuters showed a scene of carnage, with the bodies of dead and injured, mainly women and children, lying in blood amid a cloud of dust as people screamed all around, and of motionless children lying in blood.

Reuters was able to verify the location from the position and shape of the buildings and trees which matched satellite imagery of the area and other videos uploaded to social media showing the same scene. The date was confirmed from the timestamp on the CCTV and original file metadata.

The injured and dead seen in the video were confirmed via their facial features and clothes across the CCTV, aftermath of the attack and Reuters cover of the hospital where they were treated.

The strike in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip came as Israeli and Hamas negotiators hold talks with mediators in Qatar over a proposed 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal aimed at building agreement on a lasting truce.

However, a senior Israeli official said on Wednesday that an agreement was not likely to be secured for another one or two weeks.

Khalil al-Deqran, spokesperson for the health ministry in Gaza's Hamas-run government, said Israel had targeted a medical center and that six of the dead were children. Many of those injured had suffered severe wounds to the head and chest, he said.

Israel's military said it had struck a militant who took part in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. It said it was aware of reports regarding a number of injured individuals and that the incident was under review.

Israel's military campaign in Gaza has now killed more than 57,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities. It has destroyed swathes of the territory and driven most Gazans from their homes.

The Hamas attack on Israeli border communities that triggered the war killed around 1,200 people and the militant group seized around 250 hostages according to Israeli tallies.