By Mersiha Gadzo, Urooba Jamal and Umut Uras

    Gaza’s Ministry of Health has said that 29 people were killed in Gaza in the past 24 hours as reports emerge that five Palestinian journalists were among those killed.

    The “continuous cycle” of mass displacement of civilians in Gaza and people being in “survival mode” and “despair” must stop, the director of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, has said.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that gaps remain between parties after Israel’s Mossad chief left Doha following a meeting with mediators over Gaza ceasefire talks, adding that the talks will resume next week.

    At least 38,098 people have been killed and 87,705 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from the Hamas-led attacks is estimated at 1,139 with dozens of people still held captive in Gaza.

    Israeli army releases 15 detainees, then drops bombs on them: Survivors

    Palestinian detainees in Gaza have testified that shortly after their release from Israeli detention centre, Israeli forces targeted the group by dropping bombs on them, leading to numerous deaths.

    Farid Sobh said in a video testimony verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency Sanad that he was in detention with about 15 Palestinians.

    “After four days in detention, we were released. We were handcuffed and blindfolded. The Israeli soldiers kept torturing us. They even urinated on us. I was beaten, kicked and battered all over my body,” he said.

    “After that, we were released and as we started walking off on the asphalt, they threw grenades and fired a drone missile on us. Some [seven] of my men were killed. I ran for my life and miraculously survived. I came to this hospital [Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis] to check the injuries I suffered.”

    Mahmoud Abu Taha, another survivor of the same deadly incident, confirmed Sobh’s account.

    Gaza’s police denounce Israeli attacks on Palestinian law enforcement officers

    Gaza’s police have condemned Israeli forces targeting their personnel, which have led to multiple casualties in the south of the enclave, according to their statement.

    “This morning, Israeli occupation aircraft targeted a foot patrol of officers and members of the Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood police station, west of the Rafah city, including the director of the centre, Colonel Fares Abdel-Al, while carrying out their police duty in serving citizens, securing their homes, and preserving public property, where the director was martyred,” the General Directorate of Police in the Gaza Strip said, adding that several others sustained injuries in the attack.

    The attacks violate international law and “confirm that the occupation seeks to spread chaos in the Gaza Strip and the absence of any signs of order, as hundreds of police officers and members have been martyred since the beginning” of the war, the statement also read.

    Earlier, we reported that in addition to the attack in Tal as-Sultan, six policemen were killed in Israeli bombardment of the Saudi neighbourhood of western Rafah, and one person was killed as a result of an Israeli bombing of a police car in Gaza’s al-Shakoush area.

    Hamas drops key demand for Gaza truce: Report

    Hamas has given initial approval for a US-backed proposal for a phased truce deal in Gaza, dropping a key demand that Israel gives an upfront commitment for a complete end to the war, according to a Hamas and an Egyptian official quoted by The Associated Press news agency.

    The reported compromise by the Palestinian group could help deliver the first long-term pause in fighting since last November and set the stage for further talks on ending the devastating war.

    The two officials, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, told the agency that the deal will include a “full and complete” six-week ceasefire that would see the release of a number of captives in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

    During these 42 days, Israeli forces would also withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza and allow the return of displaced people to their homes in northern Gaza as the second phase of the deal is negotiated, the two officials reportedly said.

    Number of injured in occupied West Bank’s Balata rises to nine

    We reported earlier that Israeli forces had injured a young Palestinian man east of Nablus city in the occupied West Bank.

    An Al Jazeera correspondent now confirms that nine Palestinians have been injured by Israeli sniper bullets in the Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, after the Israeli army announced it was carrying out an operation it described as “pre-emptive” in the camp.