US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel on Sunday, as Israeli forces intensified their assault on northern Gaza, resulting in the destruction of another high-rise building and the deaths of at least 12 Palestinians.
Mr Rubio stated prior to his visit that he would be seeking clarity from Israeli officials regarding their proposed path forward in Gaza.
The two-day visit also serves as a demonstration of support for Israel, which faces increasing international isolation, particularly as the United Nations prepares for a potentially contentious debate on the establishment of a Palestinian state – a proposal strongly opposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mr Rubio’s trip proceeded despite President Donald Trump’s reported anger at Mr Netanyahu over the Israeli strike in Doha, which Mr Trump claimed the United States was not informed of in advance.
On Friday, Mr Rubio and Mr Trump met with Qatar’s prime minister to discuss the repercussions of the Israeli operation.
These consecutive high-level meetings with both Israel and Qatar underscore the Trump administration’s efforts to balance relations between key Middle Eastern allies amidst widespread international condemnation of the attack.
The Doha attack also appears to have ended attempts to secure an Israel-Hamas ceasefire and the release of hostages ahead of the upcoming U.N. General Assembly session, at which the Gaza war is expected to be a primary focus.
On Sunday, at least 13 Palestinians were killed and dozens were wounded in multiple Israeli strikes across Gaza, according to local hospitals.
Local hospitals said Israeli strikes targeted a vehicle near Shifa hospital and a roundabout in Gaza City, and a tent in the city of Deir al-Balah that killed at least six members of the same family.
Two parents, their three children and the children’s aunt were killed in that strike, according to the Al-Aqsa hospital. The family was from the northern town of Beit Hanoun, and arrived in Deir al-Balah last week after fleeing their shelter in Gaza City
The Israeli military did not have an immediate comment on the strikes.
As part of its expanding operation in Gaza City, the Israeli military destroyed a high-rise residential building on Sunday morning, less than an hour after an evacuation order posted online by the military spokesman Avichay Adraee.
Residents said the Kauther tower in the Rimal neighborhood was flattened to the ground. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
“This is part of the genocidal measures the (Israeli) occupation is carrying out in Gaza City,” said Abed Ismail, a Gaza City resident. “They want to turn the whole city into rubble, and force the transfer and another Nakba.”
The word Nakba is Arabic for catastrophe and refers to when some 700,000 Palestinians were expelled by Israeli forces or fled their homes in what is now Israel, before and during the 1948 war that surrounded its creation.
Israeli strongly denies accusations of genocide in Gaza
Separately, two Palestinian adults died of causes related to malnutrition and starvation in the Gaza Strip over the last 24 hours, the territory’s health ministry reported Sunday.
That has brought the death toll from malnutrition-related causes to 277 since late June, when the ministry started to count fatalities among this age category, while another 145 children died of malnutrition-related causes since the start of the war in October 2023, the ministry said.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, abducting 251 people and killing some 1,200, mostly civilians. There are still 48 hostages remaining in Gaza, of whom 20 Israel believes are still alive.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,803 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants. It says around half of those killed were women and children. Large parts of major cities have been completely destroyed and around 90% of some 2 million Palestinians have been displaced. ___
Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
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