Hamas declared Saturday its readiness for an agreement to release all hostages still held in Gaza in a single operation in exchange for a five-year truce with Israel, as recent Israeli strikes on the Palestinian territory have resulted in at least 56 deaths over the past 24 hours, including around twenty since Saturday morning, according to rescue services.

The Palestinian movement "is ready for a prisoner exchange in a single operation and for a five-year truce," a representative speaking anonymously told AFP, as a delegation of its members is expected to meet Egyptian mediators in Cairo seeking to resolve the war that has ravaged the Gaza Strip for 18 months.

On April 17, the group rejected an Israeli proposal that included a 45-day truce in exchange for the return of ten living hostages, held captive since October 7, 2023.

It demands a "comprehensive" agreement including a cessation of hostilities, a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops, the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, one of its leaders, Taher al-Nounou, reiterated to AFP on Saturday.

Israel - which has not immediately responded to the call for a lengthy truce - demands the return of all hostages and the disarmament of Hamas, something the Palestinian movement has so far excluded.

Numerous people still under the rubble

Gaza hospitals have received 56 Palestinians killed and 108 injured in the past 24 hours, Gaza's health ministry reported Saturday. Among these victims, at least 13 people were killed in an Israeli strike targeting a house in the Sabra neighborhood, in the south of Gaza City, which resulted in "over thirty injuries" and left many people under the rubble, a spokesperson for the enclave's Civil Defense, Mahmoud Bassal, told AFP.

AFP's footage from the scene shows Palestinians using torches to cut through the building's steel structure with a circular saw and removing at least one body from the debris. A young girl, with her forehead bandaged, stands there visibly stunned. "Everyone was asleep with their children, and without any warning, we saw the house collapse on us. There were screams, and those who could still breathe were calling for help, but no one came," a family member, Oum Walid al-Khour, testified. "Most of the victims were children, killed by asphyxiation due to the bombing," she added.

The Israeli military has not commented at this stage. Rescuers are hindered in their search by the "lack of adequate equipment and machinery," Bassal noted, as 40 clearing machines were destroyed by Israeli troops last week.

Furthermore, local correspondents from the channel report that at least three people were killed in an Israeli raid targeting displaced persons' tents in the humanitarian area of al-Mawassi, west of Khan Younis, with three more injured. Four other Palestinians were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a house in Deir al-Balah, in the center of the enclave, which resulted in several other injuries.

In addition, eight fishermen were injured by Israeli naval fire on two boats off Zawaida and Khan Younis. Other injuries were reported by rescuers after further Israeli attacks in the Maghazi refugee camp, near Gaza City, and east of Khan Younis.

On their side, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, claimed their fighters "killed and injured members of a Zionist special force after targeting them with shells and machine guns in Shujaiya," according to a statement published on their Telegram channel.

The previous day, Gaza authorities announced that 84 people had been killed and 168 injured due to Israeli raids carried out across the Gaza Strip throughout the day.

"The blockade must end"

Since March 2, Israel has also blocked the entry of humanitarian aid into the devastated Palestinian territory, where the 2.4 million residents, mostly displaced at least once by the conflict, are now facing famine and severe health shortages, according to the United Nations.

The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, denounced Friday "a man-made famine driven by political reasons."

This blockade "must end (...) lives depend on it," warned the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, resulted in the death of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. Of the 251 people abducted that day, 58 are still held in Gaza, with 34 deceased, according to the Israeli military.

The official number of Palestinians killed since the beginning of the Israeli offensive now stands at 51,495 dead and 117,524 injured. Among them, at least 2,062 have been killed since the truce was broken by Israel on March 18, ending the cease-fire agreement reached in January with Hamas.