Israel’s defense minister said he told the military to advance plans for what he called a “humanitarian city” built on the ruins of Rafah in southern Gaza, according to reports in Israeli media.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes killed 14 Palestinians in Gaza and another 10 were killed while seeking food aid, hospital officials in the embattled enclave told The Associated Press on Saturday, as U.S.-led ceasefire efforts appeared to gain momentum after nearly 21 months of war.

Aref al-Jaabari (2nd-R), former governor of Hebron and head of the Jaabari family in the area, attends a meeting with elders of the Jaabari family to deny media reports it was ready to break off from the Palestinian Authority and sign a peace deal with Israel as a separate emirate,

As talks for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip resume, Palestinians in the battered enclave say they are desperate for deal to end the war between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he wanted peace with Palestinians but described any future independent state as a platform to destroy Israel and for that reason sovereign power of security must remain with Israel.