More Gaza bloodshed after Israel makes truce with Iran
The Israel-Iran deal announced by US President Donald Trump raised hopes among Palestinians of an end to more than 20 months of war in Gaza that has widely demolished the territory and displaced most residents, with malnutrition widespread.
"Enough! The whole universe has let us down. (Iran-backed Lebanese group) Hezbollah reached a deal without Gaza, and now Iran has done the same," said Adel Farouk, 62, from Gaza City.
"We hope Gaza is next," he told Reuters via a chat app.
But deadly violence continued with little respite.
Marwan Abu Naser, of the Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in central Gaza, said it had received 19 dead and 146 injured from crowds who tried to reach a nearby aid distribution centre of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Abu Naser told Reuters the casualties resulted from gunfire.
Israel's military said a gathering overnight was identified next to forces operating in Gaza's central Netzarim Corridor, and it was reviewing reports of casualties.
The GHF told Reuters in an e-mail it had not heard of any violent incident near their aid site, which it said was several kilometres south of the Netzarim Corridor.
UN aid trucks entering Gaza also use area roads and Palestinians have in the past few days reported killings of people by Israeli fire as they waited at roadsides to grab bags of flour from the trucks.
Israel has been channelling much of the aid it lets into Gaza through the GHF, which operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces.
The United Nations rejects the GHF delivery system as inadequate, dangerous and a violation of humanitarian impartiality rules.
Israel says it is needed to prevent the Hamas militants it is fighting from diverting aid deliveries.
The Palestinian Islamist group denies doing so.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations' Palestinian aid agency UNRWA, told reporters in Berlin the new mechanism was an "abomination" and "a death trap".
Separately, 10 other people were killed by an Israeli air strike on a house in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City, taking Tuesday's death toll to at least 29, medics said.
Palestinians said they wished the Israel-Iran ceasefire announced by Trump had applied to Gaza.
Adding to their frustration, the Israeli military dropped leaflets over several areas in north Gaza ordering residents to leave their homes and head towards the south, in what appeared to herald renewed Israeli military strikes against Hamas.
Sources close to Hamas told Reuters there had been some new efforts to resume ceasefire talks with Israel.
They said Hamas was open to discussing any offers that would "end the war and secure Israel's withdrawal from Gaza".
But these echoed longstanding Hamas conditions that Israel has always rejected.
Hamas has said it is willing to free remaining hostages in Gaza under any deal to end the war, while Israel says it can only end if Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms.
The war in Gaza was triggered when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's subsequent air and ground war in Gaza has killed about 56,000 Palestinians, according to its Hamas-run health ministry, while displacing almost the entire population of more than two million and spread a hunger crisis.
Israeli forces have killed at least 29 Palestinians in Gaza and ordered new evacuations, local medics and residents say, in further bloodshed shortly after Israel and Iran reached a ceasefire to end a 12-day air war.
The Israel-Iran deal announced by US President Donald Trump raised hopes among Palestinians of an end to more than 20 months of war in Gaza that has widely demolished the territory and displaced most residents, with malnutrition widespread.
"Enough! The whole universe has let us down. (Iran-backed Lebanese group) Hezbollah reached a deal without Gaza, and now Iran has done the same," said Adel Farouk, 62, from Gaza City.
"We hope Gaza is next," he told Reuters via a chat app.
But deadly violence continued with little respite.
Marwan Abu Naser, of the Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in central Gaza, said it had received 19 dead and 146 injured from crowds who tried to reach a nearby aid distribution centre of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Abu Naser told Reuters the casualties resulted from gunfire.
Israel's military said a gathering overnight was identified next to forces operating in Gaza's central Netzarim Corridor, and it was reviewing reports of casualties.
The GHF told Reuters in an e-mail it had not heard of any violent incident near their aid site, which it said was several kilometres south of the Netzarim Corridor.
UN aid trucks entering Gaza also use area roads and Palestinians have in the past few days reported killings of people by Israeli fire as they waited at roadsides to grab bags of flour from the trucks.
Israel has been channelling much of the aid it lets into Gaza through the GHF, which operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces.
The United Nations rejects the GHF delivery system as inadequate, dangerous and a violation of humanitarian impartiality rules.
Israel says it is needed to prevent the Hamas militants it is fighting from diverting aid deliveries.
The Palestinian Islamist group denies doing so.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations' Palestinian aid agency UNRWA, told reporters in Berlin the new mechanism was an "abomination" and "a death trap".
Separately, 10 other people were killed by an Israeli air strike on a house in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City, taking Tuesday's death toll to at least 29, medics said.
Palestinians said they wished the Israel-Iran ceasefire announced by Trump had applied to Gaza.
Adding to their frustration, the Israeli military dropped leaflets over several areas in north Gaza ordering residents to leave their homes and head towards the south, in what appeared to herald renewed Israeli military strikes against Hamas.
Sources close to Hamas told Reuters there had been some new efforts to resume ceasefire talks with Israel.
They said Hamas was open to discussing any offers that would "end the war and secure Israel's withdrawal from Gaza".
But these echoed longstanding Hamas conditions that Israel has always rejected.
Hamas has said it is willing to free remaining hostages in Gaza under any deal to end the war, while Israel says it can only end if Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms.
The war in Gaza was triggered when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's subsequent air and ground war in Gaza has killed about 56,000 Palestinians, according to its Hamas-run health ministry, while displacing almost the entire population of more than two million and spread a hunger crisis.
Israeli forces have killed at least 29 Palestinians in Gaza and ordered new evacuations, local medics and residents say, in further bloodshed shortly after Israel and Iran reached a ceasefire to end a 12-day air war.
The Israel-Iran deal announced by US President Donald Trump raised hopes among Palestinians of an end to more than 20 months of war in Gaza that has widely demolished the territory and displaced most residents, with malnutrition widespread.
"Enough! The whole universe has let us down. (Iran-backed Lebanese group) Hezbollah reached a deal without Gaza, and now Iran has done the same," said Adel Farouk, 62, from Gaza City.
"We hope Gaza is next," he told Reuters via a chat app.
But deadly violence continued with little respite.
Marwan Abu Naser, of the Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in central Gaza, said it had received 19 dead and 146 injured from crowds who tried to reach a nearby aid distribution centre of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Abu Naser told Reuters the casualties resulted from gunfire.
Israel's military said a gathering overnight was identified next to forces operating in Gaza's central Netzarim Corridor, and it was reviewing reports of casualties.
The GHF told Reuters in an e-mail it had not heard of any violent incident near their aid site, which it said was several kilometres south of the Netzarim Corridor.
UN aid trucks entering Gaza also use area roads and Palestinians have in the past few days reported killings of people by Israeli fire as they waited at roadsides to grab bags of flour from the trucks.
Israel has been channelling much of the aid it lets into Gaza through the GHF, which operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces.
The United Nations rejects the GHF delivery system as inadequate, dangerous and a violation of humanitarian impartiality rules.
Israel says it is needed to prevent the Hamas militants it is fighting from diverting aid deliveries.
The Palestinian Islamist group denies doing so.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations' Palestinian aid agency UNRWA, told reporters in Berlin the new mechanism was an "abomination" and "a death trap".
Separately, 10 other people were killed by an Israeli air strike on a house in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City, taking Tuesday's death toll to at least 29, medics said.
Palestinians said they wished the Israel-Iran ceasefire announced by Trump had applied to Gaza.
Adding to their frustration, the Israeli military dropped leaflets over several areas in north Gaza ordering residents to leave their homes and head towards the south, in what appeared to herald renewed Israeli military strikes against Hamas.
Sources close to Hamas told Reuters there had been some new efforts to resume ceasefire talks with Israel.
They said Hamas was open to discussing any offers that would "end the war and secure Israel's withdrawal from Gaza".
But these echoed longstanding Hamas conditions that Israel has always rejected.
Hamas has said it is willing to free remaining hostages in Gaza under any deal to end the war, while Israel says it can only end if Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms.
The war in Gaza was triggered when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's subsequent air and ground war in Gaza has killed about 56,000 Palestinians, according to its Hamas-run health ministry, while displacing almost the entire population of more than two million and spread a hunger crisis.
Israeli forces have killed at least 29 Palestinians in Gaza and ordered new evacuations, local medics and residents say, in further bloodshed shortly after Israel and Iran reached a ceasefire to end a 12-day air war.
The Israel-Iran deal announced by US President Donald Trump raised hopes among Palestinians of an end to more than 20 months of war in Gaza that has widely demolished the territory and displaced most residents, with malnutrition widespread.
"Enough! The whole universe has let us down. (Iran-backed Lebanese group) Hezbollah reached a deal without Gaza, and now Iran has done the same," said Adel Farouk, 62, from Gaza City.
"We hope Gaza is next," he told Reuters via a chat app.
But deadly violence continued with little respite.
Marwan Abu Naser, of the Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in central Gaza, said it had received 19 dead and 146 injured from crowds who tried to reach a nearby aid distribution centre of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Abu Naser told Reuters the casualties resulted from gunfire.
Israel's military said a gathering overnight was identified next to forces operating in Gaza's central Netzarim Corridor, and it was reviewing reports of casualties.
The GHF told Reuters in an e-mail it had not heard of any violent incident near their aid site, which it said was several kilometres south of the Netzarim Corridor.
UN aid trucks entering Gaza also use area roads and Palestinians have in the past few days reported killings of people by Israeli fire as they waited at roadsides to grab bags of flour from the trucks.
Israel has been channelling much of the aid it lets into Gaza through the GHF, which operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces.
The United Nations rejects the GHF delivery system as inadequate, dangerous and a violation of humanitarian impartiality rules.
Israel says it is needed to prevent the Hamas militants it is fighting from diverting aid deliveries.
The Palestinian Islamist group denies doing so.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations' Palestinian aid agency UNRWA, told reporters in Berlin the new mechanism was an "abomination" and "a death trap".
Separately, 10 other people were killed by an Israeli air strike on a house in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City, taking Tuesday's death toll to at least 29, medics said.
Palestinians said they wished the Israel-Iran ceasefire announced by Trump had applied to Gaza.
Adding to their frustration, the Israeli military dropped leaflets over several areas in north Gaza ordering residents to leave their homes and head towards the south, in what appeared to herald renewed Israeli military strikes against Hamas.
Sources close to Hamas told Reuters there had been some new efforts to resume ceasefire talks with Israel.
They said Hamas was open to discussing any offers that would "end the war and secure Israel's withdrawal from Gaza".
But these echoed longstanding Hamas conditions that Israel has always rejected.
Hamas has said it is willing to free remaining hostages in Gaza under any deal to end the war, while Israel says it can only end if Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms.
The war in Gaza was triggered when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's subsequent air and ground war in Gaza has killed about 56,000 Palestinians, according to its Hamas-run health ministry, while displacing almost the entire population of more than two million and spread a hunger crisis.
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Jaishankar told an event in New York on Monday there were hopes of bringing the talks to a successful conclusion, which would require "give and take" to find middle ground. After the Quad meeting, Jaishankar went to the Pentagon, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he hoped India and the US could build on their defence integration efforts. "We hope we can complete several major pending US defense sales to India, expand our shared defence industrial co-operation and co-production efforts," Hegseth said at the start of their meeting. Japan postponed an annual ministerial meeting with the US State and Defense Departments that was supposed to be held on Tuesday. Press reports said this move followed US pressure for it to boost military spending further than previously requested. Nicholas Szechenyi, at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, said US-Japan ties appeared to have lost momentum since Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump hailed a new golden age in ties at a summit in February. "The tariff negotiations are all-consuming, and the Japanese appear exasperated by the administration's public lectures on defence spending," Szechenyi said. The Financial Times said last week the demands came from Elbridge Colby, the third-most senior Pentagon official, whom analysts say has also recently created anxiety in Australia by launching a review of the massive AUKUS project to provide that country with nuclear-powered submarines. Arthur Sinodinos, Australia's former ambassador to Washington DC and now with the Asia Group consultancy, said bilateral issues could overshadow the meeting, from which the US is keen to see a greater Quad focus on security. "Australian audiences will be looking for clues on the US stance on AUKUS as well as on trade," he said. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has hosted his Australian, Indian and Japanese counterparts, seeking to boost efforts to counter China even as trade and other bilateral disagreements introduce friction into the relationships. The four countries, known as the Quad, share concerns about China's growing power but ties have been strained by US President Donald Trump's global tariff offensive from which none of the members have been spared. Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, nevertheless, said the meeting had been "very productive". "Today's gathering will strengthen strategic stability in the Indo-Pacific and keep it free and open," he said in a post on X. In welcoming his counterparts, Rubio called the Quad countries important strategic partners and said it was time to "deliver action" on specific issues. He said 30 or 40 companies from Quad countries would meet at the State Department on Tuesday to discuss co-operation, including diversification of the supply chain for critical minerals, which is a sector currently dominated by China. The meeting offers a chance to refocus attention on the region seen as the primary challenge for the US after Trump was distracted by issues elsewhere, including the recent Israel-Iran conflict. In January, the Quad said it would meet regularly to prepare for a leaders' summit in India later this year. Rubio was also to hold bilateral meetings with Japan's Takeshi Iwaya, Jaishankar and Australia's Penny Wong. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier on Tuesday that the US and India were nearing a deal to lower tariffs on US imports and to help India avoid levies rising sharply next week. Jaishankar told an event in New York on Monday there were hopes of bringing the talks to a successful conclusion, which would require "give and take" to find middle ground. After the Quad meeting, Jaishankar went to the Pentagon, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he hoped India and the US could build on their defence integration efforts. "We hope we can complete several major pending US defense sales to India, expand our shared defence industrial co-operation and co-production efforts," Hegseth said at the start of their meeting. Japan postponed an annual ministerial meeting with the US State and Defense Departments that was supposed to be held on Tuesday. Press reports said this move followed US pressure for it to boost military spending further than previously requested. Nicholas Szechenyi, at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, said US-Japan ties appeared to have lost momentum since Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump hailed a new golden age in ties at a summit in February. "The tariff negotiations are all-consuming, and the Japanese appear exasperated by the administration's public lectures on defence spending," Szechenyi said. The Financial Times said last week the demands came from Elbridge Colby, the third-most senior Pentagon official, whom analysts say has also recently created anxiety in Australia by launching a review of the massive AUKUS project to provide that country with nuclear-powered submarines. Arthur Sinodinos, Australia's former ambassador to Washington DC and now with the Asia Group consultancy, said bilateral issues could overshadow the meeting, from which the US is keen to see a greater Quad focus on security. "Australian audiences will be looking for clues on the US stance on AUKUS as well as on trade," he said. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has hosted his Australian, Indian and Japanese counterparts, seeking to boost efforts to counter China even as trade and other bilateral disagreements introduce friction into the relationships. The four countries, known as the Quad, share concerns about China's growing power but ties have been strained by US President Donald Trump's global tariff offensive from which none of the members have been spared. Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, nevertheless, said the meeting had been "very productive". "Today's gathering will strengthen strategic stability in the Indo-Pacific and keep it free and open," he said in a post on X. In welcoming his counterparts, Rubio called the Quad countries important strategic partners and said it was time to "deliver action" on specific issues. He said 30 or 40 companies from Quad countries would meet at the State Department on Tuesday to discuss co-operation, including diversification of the supply chain for critical minerals, which is a sector currently dominated by China. The meeting offers a chance to refocus attention on the region seen as the primary challenge for the US after Trump was distracted by issues elsewhere, including the recent Israel-Iran conflict. In January, the Quad said it would meet regularly to prepare for a leaders' summit in India later this year. Rubio was also to hold bilateral meetings with Japan's Takeshi Iwaya, Jaishankar and Australia's Penny Wong. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier on Tuesday that the US and India were nearing a deal to lower tariffs on US imports and to help India avoid levies rising sharply next week. Jaishankar told an event in New York on Monday there were hopes of bringing the talks to a successful conclusion, which would require "give and take" to find middle ground. After the Quad meeting, Jaishankar went to the Pentagon, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he hoped India and the US could build on their defence integration efforts. "We hope we can complete several major pending US defense sales to India, expand our shared defence industrial co-operation and co-production efforts," Hegseth said at the start of their meeting. Japan postponed an annual ministerial meeting with the US State and Defense Departments that was supposed to be held on Tuesday. Press reports said this move followed US pressure for it to boost military spending further than previously requested. Nicholas Szechenyi, at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, said US-Japan ties appeared to have lost momentum since Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump hailed a new golden age in ties at a summit in February. "The tariff negotiations are all-consuming, and the Japanese appear exasperated by the administration's public lectures on defence spending," Szechenyi said. The Financial Times said last week the demands came from Elbridge Colby, the third-most senior Pentagon official, whom analysts say has also recently created anxiety in Australia by launching a review of the massive AUKUS project to provide that country with nuclear-powered submarines. Arthur Sinodinos, Australia's former ambassador to Washington DC and now with the Asia Group consultancy, said bilateral issues could overshadow the meeting, from which the US is keen to see a greater Quad focus on security. "Australian audiences will be looking for clues on the US stance on AUKUS as well as on trade," he said.
