Israeli troops launched a new assault Friday into the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, targeting Hamas fighters who the military claims still operate there despite repeated offensives, as American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators renewed their push for Israel and Hamas to reach a cease-fire deal.

Israeli evacuation orders triggered yet another exodus of Palestinians from the heavily destroyed eastern districts of Khan Younis, where many had just returned less than two weeks ago — after the Israeli military’s last incursion into the city in July.

A wave of Israeli airstrikes in the southern city Friday killed at least 21 Palestinians, medics at the city’s Nasser Hospital said. Israeli bombardment also continued to pound central Gaza on Friday, with the bodies of eight Palestinians — all women and children — arriving at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital from a barrage of airstrikes that hit the town of Deir al-Balah and Nuseirat refugee camp.

With tensions running high along the Israel-Lebanon border, an Israeli drone strike on Friday crashed into an SUV in the Lebanese city of Sidon, killing a Hamas official identified as Samer al-Haj on the main road to the southern port city, Lebanon's state media reported.

The explosion engulfed al-Haj's car in flames just outside the sprawling Palestinian refugee camp of Ein al-Hilweh, where Lebanese media reported that he oversaw security matters. Israel confirmed it targeted al-Haj, describing him as a senior Hamas commander and accusing him of recruiting militants to attack Israel as well as directing rocket launches.

In the Gaza Strip, one of the airstrikes in Khan Younis hit the home of the Abu Moamar family, killing a Palestine TV journalist, his wife and three daughters.

Another strike smashed into tents housing displaced people in Mawasi, a costal community just west of Khan Younis that the Israeli military has designated as a humanitarian zone, killing a journalist for the Hamas-run Al Aqsa TV channel and five others. A third airstrike targeted a car in Khan Younis.

Thousands had fled the city Thursday, carrying essentials like small gas cylinders, mattresses, tents, backpacks and blankets.

It's at least the third time that Israeli forces have launched a major incursion into Khan Younis, where Israeli and American officials have said they believe Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ newly named top leader and one of the architects of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, could be hiding. Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades, pledged allegiance to Sinwar as its new leader and promised to carry out his decisions.

Haniyeh's swift replacement “shows that Hamas is coherent and strong,” said Abu Obaida, the group’s chief spokesperson.

The Israeli military said Friday its warplanes struck 30 Hamas targets in the city, including fighters and weapons storage sites. It said troops were searching for Hamas tunnels and other infrastructure while fighting “above and below ground.”

After 10 months of war in Gaza, the mediators’ push aims to resume indirect negotiations for a cease-fire that have been on hold since Sinwar's predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in a presumed Israeli blast in Tehran on July 31.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed Thursday that it would send negotiators to talks that mediators have called for on Aug. 15, to be held in either Qatar’s capital of Doha or Egypt’s capital of Cairo.

Netanyahu's far-right allies have resisted calls for a cease-fire, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calling the latest proposal a “dangerous trap" that amounts to an Israeli surrender.

On Friday, the White House sharply rebuked Smotrich for his opposition to negotiations, with U.S. national security adviser John Kirby telling reporters that his criticism is “ridiculous” and “dead wrong."

“The views expressed by Mr. Smotrich would in fact sacrifice the lives of Israeli hostages, his own countrymen,” Kirby said, in unusually pointed public comments.

There was no immediate response from Hamas, which announced Tuesday that Sinwar, the group's leader in Gaza, would replace Haniyeh as the group's top leader. Haniyeh previously served as the key interlocutor in the negotiations.

Haniyeh’s killing and that of a top Hezbollah commander in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut brought vows of retaliation from Hezbollah and Iran, threatening to derail the fragile cease-fire talks.

The head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, which leads the guard's operations around the region, repeated promises of retaliation in a letter to Sinwar, a copy of which was seen by The Associated Press. “We are preparing to avenge his blood,” Ismail Qaani wrote, referring to Haniyeh.

When asked about whether Iran would delay its highly anticipated retaliation until after the next round of cease-fire talks called for Aug. 15, Iran's Mission to the United Nations said it hoped that Tehran's response “will be timed and conducted in a manner not to the detriment of the potential cease-fire.”

“Our priority is to establish a lasting cease-fire in Gaza; any agreement accepted by Hamas will also be recognized by us," the U.N. mission said, stressing that Iran had “the legitimate right to self-defense — a matter totally unrelated to the Gaza ceasefire."

International diplomats have been scrambling to prevent an escalation and seal a deal to stop the fighting in Gaza and release the hostages still captive in the enclave.

In a joint statement, the United States, Egypt and Qatar called for the new round of talks, to be held either in Doha or Cairo, and pressed both sides to move ahead.

“There is no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay,” they said, adding that the negotiators have already finalized a framework for the deal.

A key question hanging over the talks is the impact of Sinwar's elevation to Hamas’ top leadership post. Seen as a hard-liner within the group, Sinwar has been hiding in the vast network of tunnels running under Gaza throughout the war as Israel vows to kill him.

Sinwar has already been closely involved in negotiations from behind the scenes. Hamas officials have said negotiators regularly sought his approval on the group’s positions as it pressed for guarantees that a deal would bring a complete end to the war and withdrawal of all Israeli troops from Gaza, in return for the release of all hostages.

Israel says it aims to destroy Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack, in which militants from Gaza stormed into southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and abducting 250 others. After a round of release exchanges in November, Israel says 111 hostages remain in Gaza, including 39 bodies.

Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed more than 39,600 Palestinians and wounded more than 91,700 others. More than 1.9 million of Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million have been driven from their homes, fleeing repeatedly across the territory to escape offensives. Most are now crowded into ramshackle tent camps in an area about 50 square kilometers (19 square miles) on the Gaza coast.

With sanitation systems collapsed, diseases have run rampant, health officials say, and humanitarian groups are trying to feed the population. The United Nations says a half-million Palestinians facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.

Israel's military said Friday that its forces were still battling Hamas fighters in Gaza’s southernmost city, Rafah, in an assault there that has lasted three months. Its new assault in Khan Younis drove more people into the camps and neighboring areas.

Ghazi Abu Daka, one of the evacuees, told the AP that he and his family have been forced to flee Khan Younis four times now.

“Every day there is war. Every day there are rockets. There is no safe place in the eastern area. Now, we are displaced in the streets and don’t know where to go,” he said as he carried his son, a piece of cloth on his head to protect him from the heat.

Yasser Abu Alyan, another evacuee, said he was displaced six times from the Beni Seheila area east of the city. He said he took nothing with him except his two little girls: “Everything is gone.”

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More deaths in Khan Younis after Israeli airstrikes kill at least 21, forcing thousands to flee

Israeli airstrikes into the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis killed at least 21 Palestinians, local health officials said on Friday.

The airstrikes came after Israeli evacuation orders triggered another exodus of Palestinians from heavily destroyed districts within the city, where many had only just returned to following Israel’s last incursion in July.

One of the airstrikes in Khan Younis hit the home of the Abu Moamar family, killing a Palestine TV journalist, his wife and three daughters.

Another strike smashed into tents housing displaced people in Mawasi, an area the Israeli military had designated a humanitarian zone.

A journalist for the Hamas-run Al Aqsa TV channel and five others were killed in that attack.

A third airstrike targeted a car in Khan Younis.

Thousands fled the city on Thursday – carrying essentials like tents, backpacks and blankets.

It’s at least the third time that Israeli forces launched a major incursion into Khan Younis, the city where Israeli officials said they believe Hamas’ newly named top leader and architect of the October 7 attack Yahya Sinwar could be.

Much of the city has been reduced to ruins.

Israel has stated it has the aim of destroying Hamas following the October 7 attack which killed 1,200 people and in which 250 others were abducted.

Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed more than 39,600 Palestinians and wounded more than 91,700 others.

More than 1.9 million of Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million have been driven from their homes, fleeing repeatedly across the territory to escape offensives.

Also on Friday, an Israeli drone hit a car in southern Lebanon and killed a Hamas official, according to state media.

National News Agency said the strike hit the southern entrance of the port city of Sidon, near one of the roads that lead to Lebanon’s largest refugee camp, Ein el-Hilweh.

It reported that Hamas official Samer al-Haj was killed.

Over the past months, several Hamas officials have been killed in Lebanon in airstrikes blamed on Israel.

Last week, Hezbollah said Israel killed its top commander Fouad Shukur in Beirut.

In January, the most senior Hamas official in Lebanon, Saleh Arouri, was killed in an airstrike in Beirut that was also blamed on Israel.

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US and other frustrated mediators call on Israel, Hamas to resume Gaza talks, saying, 'no excuses'

 Leaders of the United States, Egypt and Qatar jointly demanded Israel and Hamas return to stalled talks on the war in Gaza next week, saying that “only the details” of carrying out a cease-fire and hostage release remain to be negotiated. “There is no further time to waste, nor excuses from any party for further delay,” they said in a joint statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Thursday, “Pursuant to the proposal by the U.S. and the mediators, Israel will — on 15 August — send the negotiations team to a place to be determined in order to finalize the details of the implementation of the framework agreement.”

President Joe Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Qatari Emir Tamim al-Thani, mediators in indirect negotiations to end 10 months of devastating war in Gaza, set the talks for Aug. 15, to take place in either Doha, Qatar, or Cairo.

A senior U.S. official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss the push by mediators, said only four or five areas of disagreement over implementation remained to be resolved between the two opponents.

The official cited the timing of a planned swap of Palestinian detainees held by Israel, and hostages held by Hamas, as an example.

Egypt, the U.S. and Qatar said they have a proposal ready to present at next week’s talks to resolve the remaining issues.

Critics of Netanyahu accuse him of slow-rolling talks to end the war in Gaza, which began Oct. 7 when Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people in Israel. Israel's offensive in Gaza since then has killed nearly 40,000 people.

There was no immediate response to the offer by Hamas. Last week’s killing of its top political leader in Tehran raised tensions across the region, an escalation widely seen as a blow to cease-fire talks. The killing was widely ascribed to Israel, although Israel has not commented.

U.S. officials have said they believe Hamas can resume negotiations despite the July 31 assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, who had been presiding over the talks for Hamas.

Hamas military chief Yahya Sinwar, who is believed to be sheltering from Israeli attack in underground bunkers beneath Gaza, took over as the group’s political leader. Hamas had other representatives besides Haniyeh attending the talks who can step in for the slain official, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

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US, Qatar and Egypt push urgent talks with Israel and Hamas on Aug 15

Leaders of the United States, Egypt and Qatar on Thursday called on Israel and Hamas to meet for negotiations on Aug. 15 in order to finalize a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.

The three countries, which have been trying to mediate a deal, said in a joint statement the talks could take place in either Doha or Cairo.

"A framework agreement is now on the table with only the details of implementation left to conclude," they said. "There is no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay. It is time to release the hostages, begin the ceasefire, and implement this agreement."

The leaders also offered to present "a final bridging proposal" resolving the remaining issues.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli negotiators would be there. The aim, he said, was "to finalize the details and implement the framework agreement."

There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

The statement came as a part of an effort by the three leaders to jumpstart talks, with growing fears of a possible broader conflict in the region involving Iran after the killing of senior members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

A senior U.S. administration official said there was no expectation that the agreement would be signed by next week given serious issues that include the sequencing of the exchanges between Hamas and Israel. Movement was needed on both sides of the table, the person said.

The U.S. official said the statement was not designed to influence Iran but that any escalation would jeopardize hope of getting an Israel-Hamas deal done.

Iran's mission to the United Nations said earlier on Thursday that it was pursuing two priorities simultaneously.

"First, establishing a durable ceasefire in Gaza and the withdrawal of the occupiers from this territory," it said, as well as "punishing the aggressor" for the July 31 assassination of former Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

At least 39,699 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.

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German government supports joint appeal on Gaza ceasefire deal

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his government support the call by the leading mediators in the Gaza conflict for the swift implementation of the current ceasefire agreement and the release of all hostages.

"The German government is deeply concerned about the situation in the Middle East," Deputy Government Spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said in Berlin on Friday.

Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi and US President Joe Biden signed a joint declaration released on Thursday calling on Israel and the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement to resume talks on August 15 in Doha or Cairo "to close all remaining gaps and commence implementation of the deal without further delay."

Referring to an agreement presented by Biden on May 31, and endorsed by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 2735, the German government is calling for "outstanding issues to be finalized and implementation of the agreement to begin without delay."

Scholz wrote on X that it was now time to alleviate the plight of the hostages and the population in Gaza.

Concerns about a conflagration have recently grown in the Middle East. Iran and its allies have announced retaliatory strikes against Israel over the killing of leading figures from Hamas and the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia.

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