Israel’s military said Sunday that a strike near a Gaza water distribution point that reportedly killed several children was an accident, as Israeli aircraft pounded targets across the Strip.

The attack, which the Israel Defense Forces attributed to a “technical malfunction,” came as negotiations on a ceasefire and hostage release deal continued to stall-out, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly set to convene top ministers and defense brass in a bid to find a way to break the logjam.

Gazan health officials at Al-Awda Hospital said the strike that hit a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp killed 10 people, including six children.

The IDF admitted it had erred while targeting of an operative from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group.

“Due to a technical malfunction in the munition, it struck dozens of meters away from the intended target,” the IDF said, adding that it had opened an investigation and that it “makes every effort to minimize harm to uninvolved civilians.”

Ramadan Nassar, a witness who lives in the area, told The Associated Press that around 20 children and 14 adults had been lined up to get water. He said Palestinians walk some 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) to fetch water from the area.

Water shortages in Gaza have worsened sharply in recent weeks, with fuel shortages causing desalination and sanitation facilities to close, making people dependent on collection centers where they can fill up their plastic containers.

More than a dozen people were also reported killed near an aid distribution site on Sunday, with eyewitnesses describing shots to victims’ heads and bodies. The Israeli military said its troops had fired warning shots, but that its review of the incident had found no evidence of anyone hurt by its soldiers’ fire.

Negotiations toward a ceasefire in Gaza have stalled primarily over when the war will end and to what extent the IDF will withdraw during the truce.

Palestine Al-Youm, an Islamic Jihad-affiliated news outlet, quoted a senior Hamas official Sunday saying negotiations had reached a critical stage and signaling the Palestinian group could walk away if the logjam was not cleared in the coming hours.

Channel 12 news reported Sunday that Netanyahu would convene a meeting of senior defense officials and several government ministers that night in a bid to break the impasse, focusing on a new proposal for the troops’ redeployment in Gaza and the direction of talks.

IDF brass has told the government that it is close to achieving the goals of its recent offensive, and US President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged an end to the 21-month-old war. Polls show most Israelis support a deal to free the hostages still held by Hamas and end the war.

During his recent visit to Washington, DC, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed optimism about a deal. But in a video posted to social media Sunday afternoon, he blamed Hamas for obstructing an agreement, saying Israel had accepted the outline proposed by Trump’s chief envoy, Steve Witkoff.

“We accepted it, Hamas refused it,” Netanyahu said, adding that he “won’t accept” a deal that allows Hamas to stay in Gaza and rearm.”

On Saturday, Netanyahu pushed back on a New York Times report suggesting that he has prolonged the Gaza war and rejected viable hostage release deals for his own political survival.

He said in a statement that the article “defames Israel, its brave people, and soldiers, and its prime minister.” The Times responded that Netanyahu’s statement “does not refute the facts.”

The deal currently being negotiated in the Qatari capital would see 10 living hostages released in an initial 60-day stage, along with the remains of 18 deceased captives. Relatives of some of those held in Gaza have campaigned for a deal that ends the war and releases all hostages.

Haggai Angrest, father of hostage Matan Angrest, who is thought to be alive, met with Netanyahu during his recent visit to Washington, DC. He told the Israeli news outlet Ynet that Netanyahu said that, for the first time, there were discussions about ending the war.

And Idit Ohel, mother of hostage Alon Ohel, sent a written appeal to Netanyahu’s cabinet on Sunday saying she was “beleaguered, exhausted, and shaken,” in light of a medical opinion saying Ohel, who was injured in his eye upon being captured, could soon lose his vision.

Netanyahu has insisted the war cannot end until Hamas is no longer able to rule Gaza or pose a threat to Israel, vowing to achieve both that goal and the return of all 50 hostages still being held in the Strip.

The IDF is waiting for the government to make a decision regarding the war as the military nears completion of its Gideon’s Chariots offensive, launched in mid-May. In late June, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said the military would soon “reach the lines” set by the offensive, in which the IDF aimed to take control of 75 percent of Gaza.

The army said Sunday that the Israeli Air Force had hit 150 targets across the enclave in the previous day, targeting Hamas operatives, booby-trapped buildings, weapon depots, anti-tank launch posts and other terror infrastructure.

At least 139 Palestinians were killed in Gaza between Saturday and Sunday afternoon, according to statistics published by the Hamas-run health ministry, raising the death toll to over 58,000.

The tolls, which cannot be verified, do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7, 2023 onslaught.

Jordan announced Sunday morning that a local charity had sent 50 trucks of aid to Gaza. The shipment came after the European Union announced last week that a deal had been reached to reopen several aid corridors, including humanitarian routes through Egypt and Jordan.

A group of United Nations agencies warned, meanwhile, that a fuel shortage had reached “critical levels” in Gaza, threatening aid operations, hospital care and already chronic food insecurity.

The war between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251. The 50 hostages who remain in Hamas captivity include the bodies of 28 confirmed dead by the IDF, one of whom has been held for over a decade.

Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 451. The toll includes two police officers and three Defense Ministry civilian contractors.

On Sunday, in a rare incident, an Israeli soldier driving on a road in Israeli territory near Gaza was lightly wounded by a stray Israeli bullet.