Israeli forces pushed towards the heart of Gaza City yesterday as pressure mounted on US President Donald Trump to find a way to end nearly two years of fighting in Gaza and secure the release of Israeli hostages held there.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff said the US is “hopeful ... even confident that in the coming days we’ll be able to announce some sort of breakthrough” on the war in Gaza.
He said Trump’s 21-point peace plan had been presented to some leaders on Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to address the UN General Assembly in New York tomorrow during a US trip that also includes a meeting with Trump.
Hamas’ armed wing told the Israeli military that an expansion of its operation in Gaza City would put Israeli hostages at risk, while Israel’s military called on Gaza residents to “rise up and break away from Hamas” to end the war.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have left Gaza City in northern Gaza but many have hesitated because of security risks and widespread hunger.
Israeli forces began closing in on the city of more than a million in August, with Israel saying it aimed to destroy the last stronghold of Hamas fighters whose attack on Israel and seizure of hostages triggered the war nearly two years ago.
Medics said at least 50 people were killed across Gaza yesterday, mostly in Gaza City, where Israeli air strikes hit a shelter housing displaced families near a market in the middle of the city. Two others were killed in a house nearby, they said.
In Tel Al Hawa, tanks entered populated areas trapping people in their homes, while more tanks were stationed close to Al Quds Hospital, witnesses said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said an oxygen station had been damaged.
Tanks have also advanced closer to Gaza’s largest hospital, Al Shifa, witnesses and Hamas media said. The Israeli military said the group’s fighters had opened fire from within the hospital compound, which Hamas denied.
“We fear these lies may be a prelude to another raid on the hospital,” said Ismail Al Thawabta, the director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, in reference to several previous raids by Israeli forces.
Separately, two Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank over the past 24 hours, one during a raid by Israeli troops in Anza village outside Jenin, and another was shot in Al Mughayyir village, northeast of Ramallah, by an Israeli settler, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
In southern Gaza, at least 13 people were killed in Nuseirat and near Rafah, medics said.
Israel has drawn widespread condemnation over its military conduct in Gaza, where more than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to local health authorities, and famine has spread.
International frustration over the war prompted some Israeli and US allies to recognize a Palestinian state this week. Support for the war in Israel has also wavered, with 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive, still held by Hamas in Gaza and 465 soldiers killed in combat.
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