GAZA - At least 20 Palestinians were killed Sunday night in Israeli airstrikes on three residential buildings in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported on Monday.

The victims include children and women, Palestinian medical sources told Xinhua.

The Israeli army killed 66 Palestinians and wounded 138 others during the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 34,454 and injuries to 77,575 since the Israeli-Palestinian conflict broke out on Oct 7, 2023, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a statement on Sunday

Many others were still trapped under the rubble, local sources told Xinhua, adding that civil defense crews were working to rescue them.

The strikes took place just ahead of the new round of truce talks between Hamas leaders and Egyptian mediators in Cairo.

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A Hamas delegation is scheduled to visit Cairo on Monday, to deliver the movement's response regarding a ceasefire in Gaza and to negotiate a hostage-for-prisoner swap deal with Israel, according to a source from the movement.

The source, who preferred not to mention his name, added that the delegation is headed by Khalil Al-Hayya, the Hamas deputy chief in Gaza.

The Israeli army killed 66 Palestinians and wounded 138 others during the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 34,454 and injuries to 77,575 since the Israeli-Palestinian conflict broke out on Oct 7, 2023, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.