Over 80 killed in Gaza strikes as Trump flags possible truce
At least 81 people have been killed and more than 400 injured in Israeli strikes across Gaza over the past 24 hours, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Among the dead are at least 11 people, including children, who were killed near a stadium in Gaza City that was sheltering displaced families in tents.
In another incident, a strike on a tent in the al-Mawasi area killed three children and their parents while they slept, relatives told the Associated Press.
Further attacks on Saturday afternoon in Gaza City's Tuffah neighborhood killed at least eight people, including five children, at a school sheltering hundreds of displaced Gazans.
Witnesses described frantic efforts to rescue victims buried under rubble, with civilians and emergency crews digging through sand and debris by hand. 'We didn't do anything to them, why do they harm us? Did we harm them? We are civilians,' one witness told Reuters.
The latest round of violence comes as US President Donald Trump has said a ceasefire could be agreed 'within the next week.' Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Mr Trump said, 'We're working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of.'
Qatari mediators have expressed hope that US pressure could help secure a deal, building on momentum from the recent truce between Israel and Iran.
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. Negotiations have been on and off since Israel broke the previous ceasefire in March, continuing its military campaign and deepening Gaza's humanitarian crisis.
Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, fewer than half believed to still be alive. They are part of the 250 hostages taken during Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the ongoing 21-month war.
More than 56,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Over half of the dead are reported to be women and children.
There is hope among hostage families that Mr Trump's involvement in securing the recent ceasefire between Israel and Iran might increase pressure for a deal in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, buoyed by public support for his handling of the Iran conflict, may have more room to move toward ending the war in Gaza, though his far-right coalition partners remain opposed.
Hamas has repeatedly said it is prepared to free all hostages in exchange for an end to the war, while Netanyahu insists he will only end the war when Hamas is disarmed and exiled—a condition the group rejects.
Palestinians have been shot and wounded while trying to access food at aid sites run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to reports from health officials and witnesses. Israel's military says it is investigating incidents in which civilians were harmed while approaching these sites.
- with AP
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"Explosions never stopped; they bombed schools and homes. It felt like earthquakes," said Salah, 60, a father of five children, from Gaza City on Monday. "In the news we hear a ceasefire is near, on the ground we see death and we hear explosions." Israeli tanks pushed into the eastern areas of the suburb of Zeitoun in Gaza City and shelled several areas in the north, while aircraft bombed at least four schools after ordering hundreds of families sheltering inside to leave, residents said. The Israeli military said it struck militant targets in northern Gaza, including command and control centres, after taking steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians. The heavy bombardment followed new evacuation orders to vast areas in the north, where Israeli forces had operated before and left behind wide-scale destruction. Health officials in Gaza said at least 38 people had been killed on Monday. 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Israel's subsequent military assault has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry, has displaced almost the entire 2.3 million population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis. More than 80 per cent of the territory is now an Israeli-militarised zone or under displacement orders, according to the United Nations. Palestinians in northern Gaza have reported one of the worst nights of Israeli bombardment in weeks after the military issued mass evacuation orders, while Israeli officials are due in Washington for a new ceasefire push by the Trump administration. A day after US President Donald Trump urged an end to the 20-month war, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected at the White House for talks on a Gaza ceasefire, Iran, and possible wider regional diplomatic deals. But on the ground in the Palestinian enclave there was no sign of fighting letting up. "Explosions never stopped; they bombed schools and homes. It felt like earthquakes," said Salah, 60, a father of five children, from Gaza City on Monday. "In the news we hear a ceasefire is near, on the ground we see death and we hear explosions." Israeli tanks pushed into the eastern areas of the suburb of Zeitoun in Gaza City and shelled several areas in the north, while aircraft bombed at least four schools after ordering hundreds of families sheltering inside to leave, residents said. The Israeli military said it struck militant targets in northern Gaza, including command and control centres, after taking steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians. The heavy bombardment followed new evacuation orders to vast areas in the north, where Israeli forces had operated before and left behind wide-scale destruction. Health officials in Gaza said at least 38 people had been killed on Monday. Medics said most of the casualties were hit by gunfire, but residents also reported an airstrike. A day after Trump called to "Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back", Israel's strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer, a confidant of Netanyahu's, was expected on Monday at the White House for talks on Iran and Gaza, an Israeli official said. In Israel, Netanyahu's security cabinet was expected to convene to discuss the next steps in Gaza. On Friday, Israel's military chief said the present ground operation was close to having achieved its goals, and on Sunday, Netanyahu said new opportunities had opened up for recovering the hostages, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive. Palestinian and Egyptian sources with knowledge of the latest ceasefire efforts said mediators Qatar and Egypt have stepped up their contacts with the two warring sides, but no date has been set yet for a new round of truce talks. 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Israel's subsequent military assault has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry, has displaced almost the entire 2.3 million population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis. More than 80 per cent of the territory is now an Israeli-militarised zone or under displacement orders, according to the United Nations.
