Updates: US, mediators push for Gaza ceasefire as talks continue in Doha

For more context on the conflict, watch our analysis on the Israeli image crisis, here.

Or watch our discussion on whether Israeli boycotts make a difference, here.

And, for all of our coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza, click here.

This live page will soon be closed. Here’s a recap of today’s events:

• Israeli strikes continued across Gaza, with attacks near Gaza City, Nuseirat and Bureij.
• Gaza’s Civil Defence has said 70 children have been killed in Israeli strikes over the last five days.
• US President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke by phone in the final days of Biden’s presidency amid renewed ceasefire talks in Qatar.
• Vice President-elect JD Vance has said that Trump will “enable the Israelis to eliminate the last remnant of Hamas and its leadership” if a deal is not reached before Trump takes office on January 20.
• More Israeli strikes have been reported in southern Lebanon, in the latest apparent violation of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah.

Gaza’s Civil Defence reports that three Palestinians have now died as a result of the Israeli strike on Shujayea neighbourhood east of Gaza City, which we reported on earlier.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud spoke to health professionals about their experience working on the front lines of the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

Dr Marwan Al Hams, currently the director of field hospitals in Gaza, spoke to Mahmoud about his distressing experiences.

“It’s a horrible moment when you’re at the hospital and suddenly, you see your best friend and his entire family amongst the martyrs”.

“That happened while I was in the hospital with my colleague… he greeted us and left the hospital after about 20 minutes; we received news of an Israeli attack that led to the martyrdom of 51 people, including him; his body was never found”, he said.

You can watch the full report here:

Two strikes have been reported in the valley of Houmin in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.

Videos posted to social media, and verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency, showed the impact of the strikes and what appeared to be a resulting fire.

Israel and Hezbollah reached a ceasefire agreement at the end of November, but both sides have accused the other of numerous violations. Lebanon submitted a complaint at the UN Security Council this week, saying that Israel had violated the agreement 816 times between the signing date and December 22.

Hezbollah has warned it will renew attacks on Israel if Israeli troops don’t withdraw from southern Lebanon by the deadline of January 26.

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that an Israeli attack on the Shujayea neighbourhood east of Gaza City has killed two people.

Earlier, during a separate attack, we reported that two people were killed, according to witnesses, in the Mukhabarat area in the north of Gaza City, while they were collecting firewood due to the lack of cooking gas in the area.

The Palestinian Authority has reacted to the renewed ceasefire talks, with the office of President Mahmoud Abbas saying it is time for Israel to accept an end to the fighting.

It said Abbas has been working with Arab and international parties to reach a deal outlined in UN Security Council Resolution 2735, which calls for a ceasefire, urgent aid for Gaza and a complete Israeli withdrawal.

The Palestinian Authority has been criticised by some for its diminished role amid the war in Gaza.

US President-elect Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East is in Israel, as diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza ramp up.

Steve Witkoff has met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Trump has warned that “all hell would break loose” if the captives held in Gaza aren’t released in time for his inauguration next week.

Al Jazeera spoke to Israeli political commentator Ori Goldberg for his analysis.

Watch below to hear what he said:

Mirjana Spoljaric, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), has arrived in Tel Aviv as part of a five day visit to Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.

The ICRC has been instrumental in past captive release agreements, with Spoljaric’s visit coming as ceasefire negotiations in Qatar have again picked up. The ICRC president has also been a leading voice calling for upholding international law amid the conflict.

Spoljaric “will engage directly with individuals suffering from the humanitarian consequences of the conflict”, the organisation said in a statement.

“She will also meet with authorities on all sides to reaffirm the importance of upholding international humanitarian law as well as ICRC’s continued commitment to addressing the humanitarian needs of all civilians,” it said.

The woman, Tamar Edri, had been wounded in a rocket attack on Nahariya in November, just two days before a ceasefire agreement was reached with Israel.

In a statement today, the municipality reported that Edri had died from the wounds. The latest update comes near the January 26 deadline for the Israeli military to withdraw from the area in southern Lebanon it is occupying and for the Lebanese armed forces to deploy to those areas.

Both sides have accused the other of multiple violations, although the ceasefire has broadly held.

Al Jazeera is reporting from Jordan because the Israeli government has banned it from operating in Israel and the occupied West Bank.

There’s a lot of turmoil within Benjamin Netanyahu’s own government.

Remember that when the first and only ceasefire deal took place, you had members of his own coalition, like Itamar Ben-Gvir, vote against it.

Now you have the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who’s been quite an outspoken opponent of any sort of ceasefire deal.

There is a large school of thought in Israel that if Netanyahu agrees to a deal, his government will collapse.

So there were reports earlier in the day that Netanyahu held a meeting with members of the far right, including Smotrich, to try and warm him up to the idea of the ceasefire deal.

The far right has been against this for some time, saying that it would be a victory for Hamas and that they would be rewarding the Palestinian group.

Benjamin Netanyahu, nonetheless, still decided to send his negotiating team to give them a mandate and let them stay another day in Doha for these talks.

Ultimately, this is going to be Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision.

Israeli raids have been continuing in the occupied West Bank, with dozens of young men now detained in Deir Istiya.

The town in the Salfit governate has been repeatedly targeted in recent days, with Wafa news agency reporting the Israeli military has used dirt barriers at the town’s entrance to hinder movement.

Videos verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking unit show the detained men being walked in a single-file line through the town.

Al Jazeera is reporting from Jordan because the Israeli government has banned it from operating in Israel and the occupied West Bank.

Even though US President Joe Biden had been pushing his Israeli counterparts for a ceasefire, those efforts have largely failed.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he would do things his way, with or without American support.

But now there’s a wild card here. US President-elect Donald Trump is coming to office in just eight days, and he said he wants a ceasefire before taking office.

At the same time, the Israeli negotiating teams are still in Doha and expected to stay in the Qatari capital for yet another day of these negotiations.

Netanyahu said that he spoke about the mandate he had given his negotiating team, but that has not been released to the public.

We don’t exactly know what the Israelis are putting on the table, but we do know that they have several red lines and non-negotiables that they have been discussing throughout the last year.

American journalist Ryan Grim says it may be risky for Israel to reject a ceasefire in Gaza, even if it is simply to placate US President-elect Donald Trump.

Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu bet his political future on waiting for Trump to assume office, argues Grim, co-founder of Drop Site News.

Grim tells host Steve Clemons that Netanyahu’s gambit paid off, and now he may not be able to reject a ceasefire after January 20 – inauguration day for Trump, who has promised that “all hell will break out” in the Middle East if he does not get his way.

“Whether it holds or whether it’s just something that’s announced so that Trump can celebrate it and say he’s moving on” is the bigger question, Grim says.

Watch the latest episode of The Bottom Line:

Israeli forces have opened fire near the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, killing one person, according to Wafa.

The news agency reported the killing took place in the ad-Dawa area to the north of the camp.

The killing follows attacks earlier today on the Bureij and Nuseirat refugee camps, both in central Gaza.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II has emphasised the importance “of stopping the Israeli war on Gaza and achieving comprehensive calm in the region” during a meeting with a group of Jordanian Senate members in the capital, Amman.

Jordan “continues to coordinate with Arab countries and allies on regional developments to protect its interests and achieve regional stability”, he said during the meeting, as cited by a royal court statement.

The king also highlighted Jordan’s efforts to sustain the flow of relief aid to Gaza, calling on the international community to step up its humanitarian response.

Addressing developments in the occupied West Bank, Abdullah stressed the need “to end unilateral measures targeting Palestinians and Jerusalem”, the statement said.