Closing summary
President Donald Trump has claimed Israel has agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and warned Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen, as he sought to reinvigorate peace talks.
Hamas suggested on Wednesday it was open to a ceasefire agreement with Israel but stopped short of accepting the US-backed proposal announced by Donald Trump, insisting on its longstanding position that any deal bring an end to the war in Gaza. AP reports that Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said the militant group was “ready and serious regarding reaching an agreement.”
Reuters reports that Hamas is reviewing new ceasefire proposals from mediators, aiming for an agreement that would end the Gaza conflict and ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory, according to a statement released on Wednesday.
Iran’s western and central airspace is closed to international transit flights for safety reasons, while the country’s eastern airspace is open to flights, Iran’s SNN cited a spokesperson for the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development as saying on Wednesday. Internal and external flight cancellations in the northern, southern and western parts of the country have been extended until Thursday 2pm local time, SNN added, Reuters reports.
Israeli strikes killed at least 14 people on Wednesday, Gaza’s civil defence agency said. Civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal said five members of the same family were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli airstrike that hit a tent housing displaced people in the coastal Al-Mawasi area.
The Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday put into effect a law passed by parliament last month to suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA.
Germany has said that Iran’s decision to suspend cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) sends a “disastrous signal”. “For a diplomatic solution it is essential for Iran to work with the IAEA,” foreign ministry spokesman Martin Giese told reporters, after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian formally enacted the suspension which followed Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear facilities.
Switzerland has initiated proceedings to dissolve the Geneva branch of the controversial, US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid group, citing legal shortcomings in its establishment. The GHF is registered in the US state of Delaware and had registered an affiliate in Geneva on 12 February, Reuters reports.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Wednesday for the elimination of Hamas in his first public remarks since Donald Trump announced what he called a “final proposal” for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, Reuters reports.
Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Saar called for global action against Iran’s nuclear programme, after the move. He also said any opportunity to free hostages held in Gaza “must not be missed”.
The Red Cross has warned that Gaza’s few functioning medical facilities are overwhelmed, with nearly all public hospitals “shut down or gutted by months of hostilities and restrictions” on supplies.
There is rising concern about aid delivery in Gaza, with more than 170 NGOs on Tuesday calling for the dismantlement of the secretive US and Israeli-backed food distributor Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The death toll from Israeli attacks on Palestinians waiting for food at its sites has risen to more than 500.
The Hamas-run interior ministry on Wednesday ordered Yasser Abu Shabab the leader of a Palestinian gang armed by Israel in Gaza to surrender and face trial, accusing him of treason. A ministry statement said the decision was taken by what it called a “Revolutionary Court”. Yasser Abu Shabab has 10 days to surrender, it said.
The US bombing of Iran’s key Fordow nuclear site has “seriously and heavily damaged” the facility, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with CBS News.
The Israeli military says it captured a “terrorist” cell operated by Iran in Southern Syria, Reuters reports.
More than 400 stars and media figures have signed a letter to BBC management calling for the removal of a board member, Robbie Gibb, over claims of conflict of interest regarding the Middle East.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that “there will be no Hamas” in post-war Gaza.
US president Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen, AP reported.
The US leader has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to broker a ceasefire and hostage agreement, and bring about an end to the war.
Hamas said in a brief statement on Wednesday that it had received a proposal from the mediators and is holding talks with them to “bridge gaps” to return to the negotiating table to try to reach a ceasefire agreement.
Displaced Palestinians in Gaza City, Gaza, try to meet their daily water needs by filling jerrycans from water delivered by tankers, earlier today.
Hamas reviews Gaza ceasefire proposals from mediators
Reuters reports that Hamas is reviewing new ceasefire proposals from mediators, aiming for an agreement that would end the Gaza conflict and ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory, according to a statement released on Wednesday.
Netanyahu calls for end to Hamas in first remarks since Trump ceasefire call
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Wednesday for the elimination of Hamas in his first public remarks since Donald Trump announced what he called a “final proposal” for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, Reuters reports.
Netanyahu told a meeting hosted by the Trans-Israel pipeline:
There will not be a Hamas. There will not be a Hamastan. We’re not going back to that. It’s over.
Iran’s western and central airspace is closed to international transit flights for safety reasons, while the country’s eastern airspace is open to flights, Iran’s SNN cited a spokesperson for the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development as saying on Wednesday.
Internal and external flight cancellations in the northern, southern and western parts of the country have been extended until Thursday 14:00 local time, SNN added, Reuters reports.
Switzerland has initiated proceedings to dissolve the Geneva branch of the controversial, US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid group, citing legal shortcomings in its establishment.
The GHF is registered in the US state of Delaware and had registered an affiliate in Geneva on 12 February, Reuters reports.
“The ESA may order the dissolution of the foundation if no creditors come forward within the legal 30-day period,” the Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations (ESA) said in a creditors notice published in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce on Wednesday.
The ESA told Reuters the GHF had not fulfilled certain legal requirements, including having the correct number of board members, a postal address or a Swiss bank account.
“GHF confirmed to the ESA that it had never carried out activities in Switzerland...and that it intends to dissolve the Geneva-registered (branch),” the ESA said in a statement.
Last week, Geneva authorities issued a separate legal notice to the GHF to remedy within 30 days “deficiencies in the organisation” or face potential action.
More than 500 people have been killed near GHF distribution hubs in Gaza or along access roads guarded by Israeli forces since the GHF started operating, according to Palestinian medical authorities in the territory.
Israel’s military acknowledged on Monday that Palestinian civilians have been “harmed” near the distribution centres and its forces had been issued new instructions following what it called “lessons learned”.
Germany has said that Iran’s decision to suspend cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) sends a “disastrous signal”.
“For a diplomatic solution it is essential for Iran to work with the IAEA,” foreign ministry spokesman Martin Giese told reporters, after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian formally enacted the suspension which followed Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear facilities.
On June 25, a day after a ceasefire took hold, Iranian lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to suspend cooperation with the Vienna-based IAEA. State media confirmed the legislation had now taken effect.
The law aims to “ensure full support for the inherent rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran” under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, with a particular focus on uranium enrichment, according to Iranian media.
While IAEA inspectors have had access to Iran’s declared nuclear sites, their current status is uncertain amid the suspension.
Throughout the nearly 21-month-long war, ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas have repeatedly faltered over whether the war should end as part of any deal, as Associated Press reports.
Hamas has said that it is willing to free the remaining 50 hostages, less than half of whom are said to be alive, in exchange for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war.
Israel says it will only agree to end the war if Hamas surrenders, disarms and exiles itself, something the group refuses to do.
An Israeli official said that the latest proposal calls for a 60-day deal that would include a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a surge in humanitarian aid to the territory.
The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the details of the proposed deal with the media and spoke on condition of anonymity.
It wasn’t clear how many hostages would be freed as part of the agreement, but previous proposals have called for the release of about 10.
Israel has yet to publicly comment on Trump’s announcement that it had agreed to his plan. On Monday, Trump is set to host the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at the White House, days after Ron Dermer, a senior Netanyahu adviser, held discussions with top US officials about Gaza, Iran and other matters.
Summary
Here is a summary of events so far:
President Donald Trump has claimed Israel has agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and warned Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen, as he sought to reinvigorate peace talks.
Hamas suggested on Wednesday it was open to a ceasefire agreement with Israel but stopped short of accepting the US-backed proposal announced by Donald Trump, insisting on its longstanding position that any deal bring an end to the war in Gaza. AP reports that Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said the militant group was “ready and serious regarding reaching an agreement.”
Israeli strikes killed at least 14 people on Wednesday, Gaza’s civil defence agency said. Civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal said five members of the same family were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli airstrike that hit a tent housing displaced people in the coastal Al-Mawasi area.
The Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday put into effect a law passed by parliament last month to suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA.
Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Saar called for global action against Iran’s nuclear programme, after the move. He also said any opportunity to free hostages held in Gaza “must not be missed”.
The Red Cross has warned that Gaza’s few functioning medical facilities are overwhelmed, with nearly all public hospitals “shut down or gutted by months of hostilities and restrictions” on supplies.
There is rising concern about aid delivery in Gaza, with more than 170 NGOs on Tuesday calling for the dismantlement of the secretive US and Israeli-backed food distributor Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The death toll from Israeli attacks on Palestinians waiting for food at its sites has risen to more than 500.
The Hamas-run interior ministry on Wednesday ordered Yasser Abu Shabab the leader of a Palestinian gang armed by Israel in Gaza to surrender and face trial, accusing him of treason. A ministry statement said the decision was taken by what it called a “Revolutionary Court”. Yasser Abu Shabab has 10 days to surrender, it said.
The US bombing of Iran’s key Fordow nuclear site has “seriously and heavily damaged” the facility, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with CBS News.
The Israeli military says it captured a “terrorist” cell operated by Iran in Southern Syria, Reuters reports.
More than 400 stars and media figures have signed a letter to BBC management calling for the removal of a board member, Robbie Gibb, over claims of conflict of interest regarding the Middle East.
The Hamas-run interior ministry on Wednesday ordered the leader of a Palestinian gang armed by Israel in Gaza to surrender and face trial, accusing him of treason.
A ministry statement said the decision was taken by what it called a “Revolutionary Court”. Yasser Abu Shabab, who does not recognize the authority of Hamas and accuses the militants of hurting the interests of Gaza, has 10 days to surrender, it said.
Clashes between Hamas fighters and members of the militia led by Yasser abu Shabab, known locally for his involvement in criminal activity, erupted in recent weeks.
On 7 October 2023, Abu Shabab was languishing in a Hamas-run jail in Gaza on charges of drug trafficking. With the outbreak of the conflict, the Palestinian from Rafah managed to leave prison, though the circumstances of his release remain unclear to this day.
For a while, Abu Shabab vanished from sight. That changed last May when Israeli defence officials acknowledged they had begun arming a clan that calls itself the Anti-Terror Service. It consists of about 100 armed men who operate in eastern Rafah under the command of Abu Shabab, whose nickname is “the Israeli agent” and who is described as a “traitor” on social media in the territory.
The officials said the Israel Defense Forces’ goal was “reducing Israeli military casualties” while systematically undermining Hamas.
Since then, Hamas has killed dozens of his fighters, amid reports that Israeli troops directly intervened to protect Abu Shabab’s faction.
In a written interview with the Guardian in June, Abu Shabab blamed Hamas for the war in Gaza, defended himself from the accusations of looting and insisted his clan was providing security to aid trucks passing from the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
“My activities are humanitarian and it’s for my people only,” Abu Shabab said. “We are providing security in areas controlled by our national forces and providing support to hundreds of families, with hundreds of people flocking to our areas every day.”
Abu Shabab’s militia, also named Popular Forces, said Hamas has killed several relatives of their leader in recent months.
The court on Wednesday urged Palestinians to inform Hamas security officials about the whereabouts of Abu Shabab, who has so far remained beyond their reach in the Rafah area of southern Gaza held by Israeli troops. There was no immediate response from his group to the surrender order.
World 'must act decisively' to stop Iran nuclear drive - Israeli foreign minister
Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Saar called on Wednesday for global action against Iran’s nuclear programme, after Tehran suspended its cooperation with UN watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In a post on X, Saar called on Germany, France and Britain “to reinstate all sanctions against Iran” under a mechanism in a landmark 2015 nuclear deal, adding that “the international community must act decisively now and utilise all means at its disposal to stop Iranian nuclear ambitions.”
More than 400 media figures urge BBC board to remove Robbie Gibb over Gaza
by Tara Conlon
More than 400 stars and media figures including Miriam Margolyes, Alexei Sayle, Juliet Stevenson and Mike Leigh have signed a letter to BBC management calling for the removal of a board member, Robbie Gibb, over claims of conflict of interest regarding the Middle East.
The signatories also include 111 BBC journalists and Zawe Ashton, Khalid Abdalla, Shola Mos-Shogbamimu and the historian William Dalrymple, who express “concerns over opaque editorial decisions and censorship at the BBC on the reporting of Israel/Palestine”.
Delivered on the eve of Channel 4’s airing of the documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, which the BBC commissioned but shelved as it said it “risked creating a perception of partiality”, the letter alleges the decision to drop the film “demonstrates, once again, that the BBC is not reporting ‘without fear or favour’ when it comes to Israel”.
It also accuses the BBC of being “crippled by the fear of being perceived as critical of the Israeli government” and claims the “inconsistent manner in which guidance is applied draws into focus the role of Gibb, on the BBC Board and BBC’s editorial standards committee” as “we are concerned that an individual with close ties to the Jewish Chronicle … has a say in the BBC’s editorial decisions in any capacity, including the decision not to broadcast Gaza: Medics Under Fire”.
You can read the full report here:
Israeli foreign minister says opportunity to free Gaza hostages 'must not be missed’
Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Saar on Wednesday said any opportunity to free hostages held in Gaza must not be missed, AFP reports.
Saar wrote on X:
A large majority within the government and the population is in favour of the plan to free the hostages. If the opportunity arises, it must not be missed!
Updated
Hamas says it's 'ready' for a ceasefire but it must put an an end to the war in Gaza
Hamas suggested on Wednesday it was open to a ceasefire agreement with Israel but stopped short of accepting a US-backed proposal announced by Donald Trump hours earlier, insisting on its longstanding position that any deal bring an end to the war in Gaza.
AP reports that Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said the militant group was “ready and serious regarding reaching an agreement.”
He said Hamas was “ready to accept any initiative that clearly leads to the complete end to the war.”
A Hamas delegation is expected to meet with Egyptian and Qatari mediators in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the proposal, according to an Egyptian official.
Updated
Israeli strikes kill 14 , Gaza rescuers say
Israeli strikes killed at least 14 people on Wednesday, Gaza’s civil defence agency said.
In southern Gaza on Wednesday, civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that five members of the same family were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli air strike that hit a tent housing displaced people in the coastal Al-Mawasi area.
Images from the nearby Nasser Hospital, in Khan Yunis city, showed medics treating young children covered in blood.
Despite being declared a safe zone by Israel in December 2023, Al-Mawasi has been hit by repeated Israeli strikes.
Further north, Bassal said that four people from the same family were killed in a pre-dawn Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza City, and another five in a drone strike on a house in the central Deir el-Balah area.
The Guardian is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers.
When contacted by AFP, the Israeli military requested precise coordinates for the targeted locations and said it “will try to look into” the reports.
Iran enacts law suspending cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog
Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday put into effect a law passed by parliament last month to suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, Reuters reports citing Iranian state media.
Here are some images coming to us over the wires.
The Israeli military says it captured a “terrorist” cell operated by Iran in Southern Syria, Reuters reports.
More to follow …
The US bombing of Iran’s key Fordow nuclear site has “seriously and heavily damaged” the facility, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with CBS News.
“No one exactly knows what has transpired in Fordow,” Araghchi said in the interview broadcast on Tuesday, Reuters reports. “That being said, what we know so far is that the facilities have been seriously and heavily damaged.
“The Atomic Energy Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran... is currently undertaking evaluation and assessment, the report of which will be submitted to the government.”
Intercepted Iranian communications downplayed the extent of damage caused by US strikes on Iran’s nuclear programme, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing four people familiar with classified intelligence circulating within the US government.
Donald Trump has said the strikes “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, but US officials acknowledge it will take time to form a complete assessment of the damage caused by the US military strikes.
Interim summary
We are pausing this blog for now, but will be back later when further developments arise.
For now, this is the latest:
President Donald Trump has claimed Israel has agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and warned Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen, as he sought to reinvigorate peace talks.
It is unclear what conditions specifically Israel has agreed to. Trump’s previous claims that Israel was ready to end the war, including a ceasefire negotiated before his inauguration in January, have quickly broken down as both sides have accused the other of violating agreements on prisoner exchanges.
Hamas is yet to respond to Trump’s claim of a “final proposal” for a ceasefire but has previously said that it is willing to free remaining hostages in Gaza under any deal to end the war. Israel did not immediately respond to Trump’s remarks but has previously stated the war can end only if Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. The two sides have shown little sign of a readiness to budge from their entrenched positions since the conflict began on 7 October 2023.
A previous ceasefire this January had deteriorated by March when Israel launched an offensive before the second phase of the deal was reached.
The US president made the announcement on his social media platform Truth Social saying: “I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE.” He added that the “Qataris and Egyptians, who have worked very hard to help bring Peace, will deliver this final proposal.”
Talk of a new ceasefire comes as Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, plans to travel to the US to meet Trump next week, in what would be the Israeli leader’s third US visit in less than six months.
The Red Cross has warned that Gaza’s few functioning medical facilities are overwhelmed, with nearly all public hospitals “shut down or gutted by months of hostilities and restrictions” on supplies.
There is rising concern about aid delivery in Gaza, with more than 170 NGOs on Tuesday calling for the dismantlement of the secretive US and Israeli-backed food distributor Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The death toll from Israeli attacks on Palestinians waiting for food at its sites has risen to more than 500.
The Red Cross has warned that Gaza’s few functioning medical facilities are overwhelmed, with nearly all public hospitals “shut down or gutted by months of hostilities and restrictions” on supplies.
A few photos of the state of healthcare in Gaza.
A patient sits in the dialysis unit at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday.
Kidney patients sit amid the destruction caused by the Israeli army at Shifa Hospital compound in Gaza.
The Guardian’s Andrew Roth has put this report together on the latest developments.
Trump and his aides appear to be seeking to use any momentum from US and Israeli strikes on Iran nuclear sites, as well as a ceasefire that took hold last week in that war, to secure a lasting truce in the war in Gaza.
Trump told reporters during a visit to Florida that he would be “very firm” with Netanyahu on the need for a speedy Gaza ceasefire. “We hope it’s going to happen. And we’re looking forward to it happening sometime next week,” he told reporters. “We want to get the hostages out.”
Read the full story below.
One of the consequences of Israel’s 12-day conflict with Iran was a drop-off in attention paid to the war in Gaza, where a terrible humanitarian situation due to Israeli attacks and a blockade on the territory deteriorated even further.
This is a timeline of what happened:
More than 170 NGOs call for dismantlement of US and Israeli-backed food distributor GHF
More than 170 non-governmental organisations called on Tuesday for a secretive US- and Israeli-backed food aid distribution scheme in Gaza to be dismantled as the death toll from Israeli attacks on Palestinians waiting for food at its sites has risen to more than 500. Reuters reports:
More than 500 people have been killed in mass shootings near aid distribution centres or transport routes guarded by Israeli forces since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operating in late May, according to medical authorities in Gaza.
The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a UN-led system that Israel says had let militants divert aid. The United Nations has called the plan “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality rules.
As of early afternoon in Geneva on Tuesday, where the joint declaration was released, 171 charities had signed on to the call for countries to press Israel to halt the GHF scheme and reinstate aid coordinated through the United Nations.
“Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families,” the statement said. Groups signing it included Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Amnesty International.
In a response, the GHF told Reuters it had delivered more than 52 million meals in five weeks and claimed other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted”.
“Instead of bickering and throwing insults from the sidelines, we would welcome other humanitarian groups to join us and feed the people in Gaza,” the GHF told Reuters.
Doctors Without Borders told reporters in an online press briefing on Tuesday that within the last month two of its small primary health centres had received 22 dead and 548 wounded people. Those who died had received fatal wounds to the chest and in abdomen.
“They are not warning shots. They are shots directed towards the people,” said Aitor Zabalgogeazkoa, one of MSF’s emergency coordinators in Gaza.
In more than 50% of the mass casualty incidents near food distribution sites, children have been shot and killed, said Rachel Cummings, Humanitarian Director for Save the Children in Gaza.
“Children have told us they want to die... to be with their mother or father who have been killed. They want to be in paradise because there is food and water,” said Cummings.
The Israeli military acknowledged on Monday that Palestinian civilians have been harmed at aid distribution centres in Gaza, saying that Israeli forces had been issued new instructions following what it called “lessons learned”.
A reminder that a previous ceasefire was agreed to this January, when an agreement was struck to exchange dozens of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinians in Israeli jails.
But in March, Israel broke the ceasefire and resumed large-scale attacks, killing more than 400 people on the first day alone. More below:
Donald Trump has claimed that Israel is ready to agree to a peace deal with Hamas as he seeks to broker a ceasefire to the war in Gaza that has claimed almost 60,000 lives.
In a post on Truthsocial, the US president wrote: “Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War.”
It is unclear what conditions specifically Israel has agreed to and Trump’s previous claims that Israel was ready to end the war, including a ceasefire negotiated before his inauguration in January, have quickly broken down as both sides have accused the other of violating agreements on prisoner exchanges.
Nonetheless, the claim comes after Trump brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, and on the same day as Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer reportedly met with secretary of state Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
“The Qataris and Egyptians, who have worked very hard to help bring Peace, will deliver this final proposal,” Trump wrote. “I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE.”
Talk of a “final proposal” for a ceasefire come after a horrific Israeli attack at the Al-Baqa cafe on the Gaza seafront on Monday that medical and other officials said killed between 24 and 36 Palestinians.
Read more on the attack here:
Updated
Trump’s proclamation comes as the Red Cross warns that Gaza’s few functioning medical facilities were overwhelmed, with nearly all public hospitals “shut down or gutted by months of hostilities and restrictions” on supplies.
“The International Committee of the Red Cross is deeply alarmed by the intensifying hostilities in Gaza City and Jabaliya, which have reportedly caused dozens of deaths and injuries among civilians over the past 36 hours,” the ICRC said in a statement, as reported by Reuters.
Gaza’s civil defense service said 16 people were killed near aid distribution sites in central and southern Gaza on Tuesday, in the latest in a spate of deadly attacks on those seeking food, with 10 others killed in other Israeli operations.
President Donald Trump has urged Hamas militants to agree to what he called a “final proposal” for a 60-day ceasefire with Israel in Gaza that will be delivered by mediating officials from Qatar and Egypt, Reuters reports.
In a social media post, Trump said his representatives had a “long and productive” meeting with Israeli officials about Gaza.
He did not identify his representatives but US special envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio and vice president JD Vance had been due to meet Ron Dermer, a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump said representatives for Qatar and Egypt will deliver “this final proposal” to Hamas.
I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
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.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza.
President Donald Trump has said that Israel has agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and warned Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen.
Trump announced the development as he prepares to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks at the White House on Monday. The US leader has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to broker a ceasefire and hostage agreement and bring about an end to the war in Gaza.
“My Representatives had a long and productive meeting with the Israelis today on Gaza. Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War,” Trump wrote, saying the Qataris and Egyptians would deliver the final proposal.
“I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better – IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,” he said.
Israeli minister for strategic affairs Ron Dermer was in Washington on Tuesday for talks with senior administration officials to discuss a potential Gaza ceasefire, Iran and other matters. Dermer was expected to meet with vice-president JD Vance, secretary of state Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff.
