15 killed in Gaza as Trump awaits Hamas reply to truce proposal
At least 15 Palestinians were killed overnight in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, according to local health officials, as US President Donald Trump said he expected Hamas to respond to his "final proposal" for a ceasefire in Gaza in the next 24 hours.
Health officials at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, said the Israeli military had carried out an airstrike on a tent encampment west of the city around 2 a.m., killing 15 Palestinians displaced by nearly two years of war.
Later on Friday, Palestinians gathered to perform funeral prayers before burying those killed overnight.
"The ceasefire will come, and I have lost my brother? There should have been a ceasefire long ago before I lost my brother," said 13-year-old Mayar Al Farr as she wept. Her brother, Mahmoud, was among those killed.
Adlar Mouamar said her nephew, Ashraf, was also killed. "Our hearts are broken. We ask the world, we don't want food...We want them to end the bloodshed. We want them to stop this war."
Trump earlier said it would probably be known in 24 hours whether Hamas has accepted a ceasefire between the Palestinian group and Israel.
On Tuesday, the president announced that Israel had accepted the conditions needed to finalise a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, during which the parties would work towards ending the war.
Hamas, which has previously declared it would only agree to a deal for a permanent end to the war, has said it was studying the proposal, but given no public indication whether it would accept or reject it.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is yet to comment on Trump's ceasefire announcement. While some members of his right-wing coalition oppose a deal, others have indicated their support. Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the group has so far refused to discuss.
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