More than 66,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, the Health Ministry said yesterday.
The ministry said in its daily report the death toll has climbed to 66,005, with a further 168,162 wounded since Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack. Among the dead were 79 who were brought to hospitals in the past 24 hours, it said.
Israel’s military continued its offence in Gaza as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington and planned to meet US President Donald Trump today.
Israel’s offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced around 90 per cent of the population and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts saying Gaza City is experiencing famine.
The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and fighters in its toll, but has said women and children make up around half the dead. Its figures are seen as a reliable estimate by the UN and many independent experts.
Meanwhile, President Trump hopes to finalise a Gaza peace plan proposal in a meeting with Israel’s prime minister, Trump told Reuters yesterday, as Israeli tanks pushed deeper into Gaza City and the military wing of Hamas said it had lost contact with two hostages held there.
The fate of the two hostages, which has strong domestic resonance in Israel, could cast a shadow over a meeting between Netanyahu and Trump.
The Hamas military wing, Al Qassam Brigades, called on Israel yesterday to pull troops back and suspend air strikes on Gaza City for 24 hours so fighters could retrieve the captives.
Trump told Reuters in a phone interview he had received a ‘very good response’ from Israel and Arab leaders to the Gaza peace plan proposal and that ‘everybody wants to make a deal’.
Hamas said the group had not yet received any proposal from Trump nor from mediators.
Israel has launched a massive ground assault on Gaza City, flattening whole districts and ordering hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee to tented camps, in what Netanyahu says is a bid to destroy Hamas.
Nevertheless, the past few days have seen increasing talk of a diplomatic resolution to the nearly two-year-old Gaza war.
Trump’s 21-point Middle East peace plan to end the Gaza war calls for the return of all Israeli hostages, living and dead, no further Israeli attacks on Qatar and a new dialogue between Israel and Palestinians for ‘peaceful coexistence’.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must lay down its arms or be defeated.
He told Fox News earlier yesterday it is possible to have amnesty for Hamas leaders under a ceasefire agreement that would include them being escorted out of Gaza.
Hamas has so far said it will never give up its weapons as long as Palestinians are struggling for a state. It refuses any expulsion of its leaders from Gaza.
Al Qassam Brigades called on the Israeli military to pull troops back from the Sabra and Tel Al Hawa districts southeast of Gaza City’s centre, and suspend flights over the area for 24 hours from 1500 GMT so it could reach the two trapped hostages.
The Israeli military did not directly comment on the request but made clear it had no plans to halt its advances, issuing a statement ordering all residents of parts of Gaza City including the Sabra district to leave.
It said it was about to attack Hamas targets and raze buildings in the area.
Gaza residents and medics said Israeli tanks pushed deeper into Sabra, Tel Al Hawa and nearby Sheikh Radwan and Al Naser neighbourhoods, closing in on the heart of the city and western areas where hundreds of thousands of people are sheltering.
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