At least 70 killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza as ceasefire prospects inch closer
The strikes began late on Friday and continued into Saturday morning, among others killing 12 people near the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, which was sheltering displaced people, and eight more living in apartments, according to staff at Shifa hospital where the bodies were brought.
Three children and their parents were killed in an Israeli strike on a tent camp in Muwasi near the southern city of Khan Younis. They were struck while sleeping, relatives said.
A midday strike killed 11 people on a street in eastern Gaza City, and their bodies were taken to Al-Ahli Hospital. A strike on a gathering at the entrance to the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed two, according to Al-Awda hospital.
The strikes come as US President Donald Trump said there could be a ceasefire agreement within the next week. Taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, the president said: 'We're working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of.'
An official with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Israel's minister for strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, will arrive in Washington next week for talks on Gaza's ceasefire, Iran and other subjects. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.
Talks have been on and since Israel broke the latest ceasefire in March, continuing its military campaign in Gaza and furthering the dire humanitarian crisis.
Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, fewer than half of them believed to be still alive. They were among some 250 hostages taken when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 2023, sparking the 21-month-long war.
The war has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. It says more than half of the dead were women and children.
It said the dead include 6,089 killed since the end of the latest ceasefire.
There is hope among hostage families that Mr Trump's involvement in securing the recent ceasefire between Israel and Iran might exert more pressure for a deal in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is riding a wave of public support for the Iran war and its achievements, and he could feel he has more space to move toward ending the war in Gaza, something his far-right governing partners oppose.
Hamas has repeatedly said it is prepared to free all the hostages in exchange for an end to the war in Gaza. Mr Netanyahu says he will end the war only once Hamas is disarmed and exiled, something the group has rejected.
Meanwhile, hungry Palestinians are enduring a catastrophic situation in Gaza. After blocking all food for more than two months, Israel has allowed only a trickle of supplies into the territory since mid-May.
Efforts by the United Nations to distribute the food have been plagued by armed gangs looting trucks and by crowds of desperate people offloading supplies from convoys.
Palestinians have also been shot and wounded while on their way to get food at newly formed aid sites, run by the American and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to Gaza's health officials and witnesses.
Palestinian witnesses say Israeli troops have opened fire at crowds on the roads heading toward the sites. Israel's military said it was investigating incidents in which civilians had been harmed while approaching the sites.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
32 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Elon Musk blasts new version of Trump's spending bill as 'utter madness'
Elon Musk reignited his feud with Donald Trump as he tore into the president's spending bill in a blistering social media tirade. The world's richest man condemned Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' as 'utter madness', hours before Senate Republicans are expected to hold an initial vote on the latest version of the bill on Saturday afternoon. 'The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country,' Musk wrote in one of his X posts. 'Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.' Trump's massive spending bill was notably the trigger for Musk and the president's dramatic fall out just three weeks ago, with Musk taking issue with the bill's estimated $2.8 trillion spending increases. Musk - who celebrated his 54th birthday Saturday as he slammed Trump's bill - also criticized the impact the bill will have on the energy industry, with Musk recently pushing for a sharp increase in solar energy in the US. Responding to a post that noted the Senate vote 'could wipe out 500 (Giga Watts) of potential energy generation' by 2030, Musk wrote: 'This would be incredibly destructive to America!' 'At the same time, this bill raises the debt ceiling by $5 TRILLION, the biggest increase in history, putting America in the fast lane to debt slavery!' he added in another post. Earlier this month, Musk's opposition to the legislation saw his time in Trump's White House come to an acrimonious end as he tore into the president. Musk had spent the start of the year slashing the federal government's programs through his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), but saw the $150 billion he claimed to have saved wiped out by the spending increases in Trump's bill. In a shock X post that captured international headlines, Musk vented his fury by writing: '(Trump) is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!' Musk also claimed that Trump couldn't have won the 2024 presidential election without him, and said in a post that Trump's bill showed 'such ingratitude.' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Daily Mail at the time: 'This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted.' Trump's sweeping Big Beautiful Bill encapsulates much of his domestic agenda, covering everything from tax breaks and immigration to national defense and energy. Democrats are united against the bill, with Congressional Republicans - who hold majorities in both the House and Senate - set to decide whether President Trump's signature's domestic policy package will become law. Trump told Republicans to skip their holiday vacations and deliver the bill by the Fourth of July. Republicans say the bill is crucial because there would be a massive tax increase after December when tax breaks from Trump's first term expire. The legislation contains roughly $3.8 trillion in tax cuts. The existing tax rates and brackets would become permanent under the bill. It temporarily would add new tax breaks that Trump campaigned on: no taxes on tips, overtime pay or some automotive loans, along with a bigger $6,000 deduction in the Senate draft for older adults who earn no more than $75,000 a year. It would boost the $2,000 child tax credit to $2,200 under the Senate proposal. Families at lower income levels would not see the full amount. The bill would also fund the hiring of 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, and would provide Homeland Security with a new $10 billion fund for grants for states that help with federal immigration enforcement and deportation actions. For the Pentagon, the bill would provide billions for ship building, munitions systems, and quality of life measures for servicemen and women, as well as $25 billion for the development of the Golden Dome missile defense system. The Defense Department would have $1 billion for border security. To help partly offset the lost tax revenue and new spending, Republicans aim to cut back some long-running government programs: Medicaid, food stamps, green energy incentives and others. It's essentially unraveling the accomplishments of the past two Democratic presidents, Biden and Barack Obama.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce spark Swiftie fury after posing with 'MAGA' stars: 'Where is her self-respect?'
Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift have sparked a meltdown among her fanbase after they were seeing hanging out with the 'MAGA' co-hosts of 'Bussin' With The Boys'. The popular show is presented by former NFL players Will Compton and Taylor Lewan and earlier this week they posted a picture alongside the power couple. 'Confirmed: Taylor Swift is FOR THE BOYS,' they captioned the picture on social media. But the viral image has caused fury among Swifties, one of whom asked: 'Where the f*** is her self-respect?' Donald Trump appeared on 'Bussin With The Boys' ahead of last year's election and the ex-NFL stars were even given a shoutout during his victory celebrations. Dana White namechecked the podcast for helping propel Trump to victory over Kamala Harris. Back in 2023, Compton and Lewan were also seen shaking hands with the president at a UFC event. Now, Swift's decision to be pictured with the co-hosts has prompted a furious reaction on social media. 'You are who you surround yourself with,' one Swiftie wrote, while another accused the singer of having 'zero self-respect.' 'When ICE is abducting people from the streets , this is who she chooses to align herself with,' they said. 'Show me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are,' added another. Swift publicly endorsed Harris ahead of last year's election, while Trump has made clear his dislike for the singer. 'I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!' he wrote on social media last year before attacking her again in recent weeks. 'Has anyone noticed that, since I said "I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT," she's no longer "HOT?"' the president wrote. Those comments have not been forgotten by her fans in the light of her picture with 'Bussin With The Boys'. 'The fact that she still associates with people who are MAGA when Trump himself has personally attacked her…. where the f*** is her self-respect,' one asked. 'Imagine being rich enough to make the world a slightly better place... then actively choosing to surround yourself with these thugs instead,' another added. 'What a waste.' Swift and Kelce have been together in Nashville over recent days, with the Chiefs star been hosting his annual 'Tight End University'. The singer even performed during the event, sending fans wild with a rendition of 'Shake It Off'. San Francisco 49ers star George Kittle, who hosts the event with Kelce, lifted the lid on her surprise cameo. 'Taylor could not have been kinder, more nice, and she was like, "I think it might be fun to go sing 'Shake It Off'". And we were like, "It'd be amazing. Twist my arm, Taylor, please,"' he said. Speaking to Fox News Digital , Kittle added: 'She was fantastic. For the venue that, I think, it was maybe 1,000 people, that was the loudest 1,000 people I've ever heard in my entire life. It was an incredible experience.'
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
As the BBC airs punk band's shocking chants, STEVE POLLARD asks: Has baiting Jews become the new national pastime?
The Glastonbury music festival bills itself as a celebration of all that is good in the world, with great artists communing with a crowd of 200,000 self-styled progressives, for whom the festival is a chance to wallow in their own goodness and smug sense of superiority. But nothing better illustrates the darkness that has entered the soul of today's progressives than the crowd's response yesterday to punk duo Bob Vylan, whose screams of 'Free, free Palestine ' and 'Death, death to the IDF' were chanted back with such fervour that the scene was like a 2025 version of Hitler's Nuremberg Rallies. The chant was 'Death, death to the IDF', but what they meant – because the IDF is the army of the world's only Jewish state – was 'Death, death to the Jews'. Imagine being a Jew at Glastonbury, knowing that you are hated by almost everyone around you. In Sasha Baron Cohen's satirical film, Borat, the character describes a game, 'Hunt the Jew'. Everyone laughed at that when the film came out in 2006. But yesterday's Glastonbury chanting showed that its satire is all too pointed. Imagine, I ask you, being a Jew in Britain. In the 20 months since 1,200 Jews were massacred by Hamas in Israel, the UK has seen a leap in anti-Semitic incidents. Between January and June last year there was a 41 per cent increase in assaults on Jews. But that is almost the least of it. The biggest impact in Britain of the October 7 attack has been the unleashing of this torrent of Jew-hate – the likes of which we saw yesterday. Every other week there are hate marches in London and elsewhere with chants to ' globalise the intifada' – to kill Jews, in other words. There is open support for Hamas and Hezbollah, not least by Kneecap, another band performing at Glastonbury. There is pure hatred and poison. But for Jews in Britain, the real point about all this is the double standard. Can you imagine if someone had stood on that stage and screamed 'Death to Muslims'? There would certainly – and quite rightly – have been anger from the crowd. But when it is Jews who are the target, they cheer. And where are the police? Whatever your views of Lucy Connolly's imprisonment after her Southport riot tweets, the double standard is shocking. The lead singer of Bob Vylan incited a mob. Will he be arrested, charged and prosecuted? There is, I suggest, not the slightest chance if the past 20 months of open anti-Semitism is anything to go by. For those who make a regular pilgrimage to Glastonbury, it is more than just a music festival – is a carnival of light and peace. Not for Jews. Palestinian flags fly everywhere. Leaders of Palestine Action – shortly and rightly to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation – are given a platform to spread their bile. The now infamous Kneecap rapper J J O Dochartaigh wore a 'We are all Palestine Action' T-shirt on stage and led a Free Palestine chant. Glastonbury, in reality, reflects the state of modern progressivism – a poisonous cocktail of anti-Israeli prejudice, support for Islamist terror and a moral calculus so warped that Nazi-style chanting is seen as upstanding and worthy.
