Summary of the day
Here is a summary of the day’s main developments so far:
US president Donald Trump said on Thursday he wanted the US to “take” Gaza and turn it into a “freedom zone”, a possible reiteration of a plan he put forward in February for the US to take control of the Palestinian territory to allow for its reconstruction as a luxury leisure and business hub. “I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone,” Trump said in Qatar.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said that the death toll from Israeli bombardment since dawn on Thursday had risen to 103. Most of the victims, including women and children, were killed in Khan Younis in southern Gaza in airstrikes that hit homes and tents, Palestinian medics said. Gaza’s civil defence agency spokeperson Mahmud Bassal said at least 13 people were “recovered from rubble” after a dawn strike in Khan Younis.
The dead included a journalist working for Qatari television network Al Araby TV, the network announced on social media, saying Hasan Samour had been killed along with 11 members of his family in one of the strikes in Khan Younis.
Trump has arrived in Abu Dhabi, where he was greeted by president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as he stepped off Air Force One. After addressing US troops at Qatar’s al-Udeid airbase, Trump made his way to the presidental plane where the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, was waiting to see him off.
Trump has said that the US’s air campaign against the Houthi rebels was “very successful, but maybe tomorrow, an attack will be made, in which case we go back on the offensive”. He made the comments on a visit to al-Udeid airbase in Doha, Qatar. Prior to that visit, the president attended a business forum in Qatar where he hailed what he said was a record $200bn deal for Boeing aircraft.
Trump said on Thursday that the USwas getting very close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran, and Tehran had “sort of” agreed to the terms. “We’re in very serious negotiations with Iran for long-term peace,” Trump said on a tour of the Gulf, according to a shared pool report by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Roads have been blocked in the occupied West Bank and a manhunt is under way after Israel’s military chief vowed to find the perpetrators of an attack that killed a pregnant Israeli woman. Far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich called for nearby Palestinian villages to be flattened, while WhatsApp groups for Israeli settlers in the West Bank were rife with calls for vengeance in retaliation for the attack, according to AFP.
Palestinians have been commemorating the 77th anniversary of the Nakba, to honour the more than 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes in the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. Pro-Palestinian protesters in Madrid attended a march on Thursday to commemorate Nakba Day.
In the West Bank village of Tammun, Israeli troops killed five Palestinians in a raid the military described as targeting buildings suspected of being used to plan attacks. “The occupation forces killed five young men after besieging a house in the centre of the village,” Tammun mayor Samir Qteishat told AFP. The Israeli military said “soldiers identified armed terrorists who barricaded themselves in a building”.
Hamas on Thursday accused Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of undermining mediation efforts for a hostage release and ceasefire deal by carrying out military operations in Gaza. “War criminal Netanyahu undermines mediation efforts through deliberate military escalation, showing indifference to his captives, endangering their lives,” Hamas said in a statement referring to hostages held in the Palestinian territory.
Israel’s foreign ministry said it had summoned the Spanish ambassador for a formal reprimand after the country’s prime minister described Israel as a “genocidal state”. Pedro Sánchez made the remarks on Wednesday during an exchange in Spanish parliament in which his government was accused of continuing to trade with Israel. “I want to clarify one thing,” Sánchez said. “We don’t trade with a genocidal state. We don’t.”
“Israel’s blockade has transcended military tactics to become a tool of extermination”, Human Rights Watch (HRW) interim executive director Federico Borello said in a statement on Thursday. HRW said: “The Israeli government’s plan to demolish what remains of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure and concentrate the Palestinian population into a tiny area would amount to an abhorrent escalation of its ongoing crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and acts of genocide.”
Ben Cohen, the co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream, has been charged with “crowding and obstructing” others after he was arrested while protesting against the Gaza blockade during a US Senate hearing. Video film recorded at the hearing and posted by Cohen on social media shows him being hauled out of the committee room, handcuffed and escorted away.
Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan said on Thursday he will discuss the US decision to lift sanctions on Syria and the roadmap ahead in a meeting with his US and Syrian counterparts later in the day. Fidan was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an informal Nato foreign ministers’ meeting in Antalya, Turkey, where he later planned to meet US secretary of state Marco Rubio and Syrian foreign minister Asaad al-Shibani.
Germany’s Lufthansa airline group said on Thursday its suspension of flights to and from Tel Aviv would last until at least 25 May amid ongoing regional conflict. Lufthansa said in a statement the decision to extend the suspension was made “due to the current situation”, without giving further details.
Israel will not fund a new US-led humanitarian operation in the Gaza Strip, but it will facilitate and enable it, Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon told reporters on Thursday.
The US treasury has said that it has begun to execute Donald Trump’s announcement in Saudi Arabia that Washington was lifting sanctions on Syria.
In a post on social media, the US said: “We look forward to implementing the necessary authorisations that would be critical to bringing new investment into Syria.”
It added that the action would help Syria begin rebuilding its infrastructure, economy and financial sector, to put the country “on a path to a bright, prosperous, and stable future.”
The top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, told US president Donald Trump on Thursday that the Iranian nation considered him the “murderer” of Quds Force commander Qassem Suleimani.
Suleimani was the commander of the Quds Force, the overseas arm of the elite Revolutionary Guards.
He was killed in Iraq in a drone strike on 3 January 2020, ordered by Trump during his first term in office.
Trump had said earlier that the United States was getting very close to securing a nuclear deal with Tehran.
Rubio holds Syria talks as US eases sanctions
US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Thursday met Syria’s foreign minister to discuss normalising relations after president Donald Trump moved to ease sanctions on the country.
The top US diplomat, in the Turkish resort of Antalya for a meeting of Nato foreign ministers, opened talks with Syrian foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani, a state department official said, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The closed-door meeting also involved top Turkish officials including foreign minister Hakan Fidan, the official added.
Trump, on a visit to Riyadh on Tuesday, announced that he would lift sanctions, saying that he wanted to give Syrians “a chance at greatness”.
Ben & Jerry’s co-founder arrested for protesting Gaza blockade at US Senate hearing
Ben Cohen, the co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream, has been charged with “crowding and obstructing” others after he was arrested while protesting against the Gaza blockade during a US Senate hearing.
Cohen – the Ben in Ben & Jerry’s – made his stand on Wednesday while Robert F Kennedy Jr was addressing a hearing of the health, education, labor and pensions committee. A group of activists heckled the health secretary over his anti-vaccine posture, yelling: “When Bobby lies, children die,” and “Anti-vax, anti-science, anti-America”.
Then Cohen stood up and made his Gaza protest. Video film recorded at the hearing and posted by Cohen on social media shows him being hauled out of the committee room, handcuffed and escorted away.
As he is being removed, a woman asked him why he was being arrested.
He replied:
Congress kills poor kids in Gaza by buying bombs and pays for it by kicking kids off Medicaid in the US.
He added:
Congress and the senators need to ease the siege, they need to let food into Gaza. They need to let food to starving kids.
Gaza is now in the 11th week of a total blockade by Israel which prevents essential items including food, fuel and medicines reaching the area’s 2.3 million Palestinians. Many people are surviving on limited supplies of canned peas or dried beans.
A report this week from food security experts warned that Gaza was at “critical risk of famine”.
Here are some images from Gaza, where Palestinians have been commemorating Nakba Day, to honour the more than 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes in the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. It is the 77th anniversary of the Nakba:
Five Palestinians killed by Israeli troops in West Bank house raid
Users of Palestinian Telegram channels sharing information on West Bank checkpoints reported many road closures in the north of the territory on Thursday, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
WhatsApp groups for Israeli settlers in the West Bank were rife with calls for vengeance in retaliation for an attack that killed a pregnant Israeli woman (see 11.56am BST). “To make sure this never happens again … we need real revenge! Erase every terror village,” one user said, according to AFP.
In the northern West Bank, the Israeli military said a manhunt was under way. Lt Gen Eyal Zamir said:
We will use all the tools at our disposal and reach the murderers in order to hold them accountable.
In the northern village of Tammun, Israeli troops killed five Palestinians in a raid the military described as targeting buildings suspected of being used to plan attacks.
“The occupation forces killed five young men after besieging a house in the centre of the village,” Tammun mayor Samir Qteishat told AFP.
The Israeli military said “soldiers identified armed terrorists who barricaded themselves in a building”. “Following an exchange of fire, five terrorists were eliminated, and an additional terrorist was apprehended,” it said.
Updated
Israel's blockade has become 'tool of extermination', says Human Rights Watch
“Israel’s blockade has transcended military tactics to become a tool of extermination”, Human Rights Watch (HRW) interim executive director Federico Borello said in a statement on Thursday.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), HRW said:
The Israeli government’s plan to demolish what remains of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure and concentrate the Palestinian population into a tiny area would amount to an abhorrent escalation of its ongoing crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and acts of genocide.
Death toll from Israeli bombardment on Thursday rises to 103 - Gaza’s civil defence agency
Gaza’s civil defence agency said that the death toll from Israeli bombardment since dawn on Thursday had risen to 103. Updates have been coming in throughout the day, with previous total, given by Palestinian rescuers, being 94 (see 12.20pm BST).
Updated
Palestinians and pro-Palestinian protesters have been marking Nakba Day, which is generally commemorated on 15 May to honour the more than 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes in the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.
Here are some images, via the newswires:
Here are some more images, coming in via the newswires, of Trump’s latest stop on his Middle East visit:
Trump arrives in UAE
US president Donald Trump has arrived in Abu Dhabi, where he was greeted by president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as he stepped off Air Force One.
After addressing US troops at Qatar’s al-Udeid airbase, Trump made his way to Air Force One, where the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, was waiting to see him off.
According to a White House spokesperson, the two leaders spoke for a moment, before Trump walked to the stairs of the presidential plane on a red carpet, with a Qatari honour guard standing at attention.
Updated
President Donald Trump’s comment Thursday about not wanting to make “nuclear dust” in a possible strike on Iranian nuclear facilities mirrors the concerns of the Gulf Arab countries he’s visiting in the Middle East this week.
The possibility of a US or Israeli strike on Iranian enrichment sites has renewed longstanding fears that Gulf Arab states have about Iran’s programme, AP reported.
In the past, they have worried that an accident or a strike at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant could send radioactive material into the air and spread across the Persian Gulf into their countries.
Speaking to a business forum on Thursday, Trump similarly brought up the idea.
“Iran has sort of agreed to the terms: They’re not going to make, I call it, in a friendly way, nuclear dust,” Trump said. “We’re not going to be making any nuclear dust in Iran.”
Iran has criticised the US threats to strike.
Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan said on Thursday he will discuss the US decision to lift sanctions on Syria and the roadmap ahead in a meeting with his US and Syrian counterparts later in the day.
Fidan was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an informal Nato foreign ministers’ meeting in Antalya, Turkey, where he later planned to meet US secretary of state Marco Rubio and Syrian foreign minister Asaad al-Shibani.
US president Donald Trump made the surprise announcement on Syrian sanctions this week.
Just two days after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria last December, Israel launched a sweeping offensive, seizing the Golan Heights and carrying out hundreds of airstrikes across the country.
Israel has remained militarily involved in Syria, declaring regions near their shared border a demilitarised zone and carrying out frequent attacks, patrols and raids. These measures have frustrated the new leadership in Damascus, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, which has accused Israel of destabilising the country.
Amaa al-Omar, a journalist who reports on Syria, explains what is driving the conflict and what impact it has had on Syria’s interim leaders in this video explainer:
Donald Trump said on Thursday he wanted the United States to “take” Gaza and turn it into a “freedom zone”, a possible reiteration of a plan he put forward in February for the US to take control of the Palestinian territory to allow for its reconstruction as a luxury leisure and business hub. The scheme involved the possible permanent displacement of much or all of its population of 2.3 million.
“I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good: make it a freedom zone, let the United States get involved and make it just a freedom zone,” Trump said in Qatar. “I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone.”
Analysts said the omission of Israel from Trump’s itinerary was a significant blow to Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, and evidence of tension between the two leaders.
Netanyahu, who leads the most rightwing government in Israel’s history, vowed earlier in the week to push ahead with an expanded offensive in Gaza to achieve Israel’s stated war aims of “crushing” Hamas and freeing the 58 hostages it is holding.
Hamas says Israel 'military escalation' undermines Gaza mediation
Hamas on Thursday accused Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of undermining mediation efforts for a hostage release and ceasefire deal by carrying out military operations in Gaza.
“War criminal Netanyahu undermines mediation efforts through deliberate military escalation, showing indifference to his captives, endangering their lives,” Hamas said in a statement referring to hostages held in the Palestinian territory, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Palestinian rescuers are now reporting that at least 94 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza overnight and into Thursday. Earlier, Gaza’s civil defence agency had said that the death toll stood at 82 (see 10.26am BST).
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that in the occupied West Bank, raids are continuing and roads have been blocked after Israel’s military chief vowed to find the perpetrators of an attack that killed a pregnant Israeli woman (see 11.56am BST).
Updated
Pro-settler leaders call for Palestinian villages to be 'flattened' after death of pregnant Israeli woman in West Bank attack
A heavily pregnant Israeli woman was killed in a shooting in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, drawing calls from hardline pro-settler leaders for nearby Palestinian villages to be flattened, reports Reuters.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the shooting near the Brukhin settlement in the northern West Bank. The Israeli military has said it is searching for the perpetrator.
Israeli president Isaac Herzog said Tzeela Gez was shot while in a car with her husband as they were driving to hospital to give birth. Israeli media reported that Gez was pronounced dead after being taken to hospital, where her baby was delivered by caesarean section. The baby is reportedly in a serious but stable condition, while Gez’s husband Hananel was lightly injured.
The attack, coming amid one of the largest Israeli military operations in the West Bank in two decades, drew angry reactions from Israeli politicians who said the nearby Palestinian towns of Bruqin and az-Zawiya should be destroyed like cities in Gaza.
“Just as we are flattening Rafah, Khan Younis and Gaza, we must also flatten the terror nests in Judea and Samaria,” far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said, employing the term often used in Israel for the West Bank.
The chief of the Israeli general staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, visited the troops carrying out a search for the attacker, while prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was horrified by the incident.
“I am relying on the security forces which, in this case as well, will quickly find the murderers and settle accounts with them and whoever assisted them,” Netanyahu said in a statement, according to Reuters.
The Israeli military said late on Wednesday that soldiers were in pursuit of the perpetrator. It was not immediately clear if the military or other Israeli authorities had identified those involved.
The Associated Press (AP) reports that photos of the car released by the military showed a bullet hole on the passenger side of the windshield and a streak of blood on a back door. Soldiers searched the rugged brush on the sides of the road after the attack, according to video released by the Israeli military.
Abu Obeida, spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing, praised the attack as “heroic” in a video statement on Wednesday but stopped short of saying the militant group was behind it, reports the AP.
On Thursday, military checkpoints slowed down traffic on roads in the vicinity of the attack, and many Palestinian motorists were at a standstill as they tried to make their journeys, according to video shared on social media.
Updated
Israel summon Spanish ambassador after PM Sánchez describes it as a 'genocidal state'
Israel’s foreign ministry has said it has summoned the Spanish ambassador for a formal reprimand after the country’s prime minister described Israel as a “genocidal state”.
Pedro Sánchez made the remarks on Wednesday during an exchange in Spanish parliament in which his government was accused of continuing to trade with Israel. “I want to clarify one thing,” Sánchez said. “We don’t trade with a genocidal state. We don’t.”
The Spanish government has repeatedly said that it has halted the sale or purchase of weapons with Israel since the conflict erupted in 2023. Several reports, however, appear to contradict this.
Israel’s reaction to Sánchez’s comments was swift. “Following the serious remarks made by Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish ambassador to Israel has been summoned for a reprimand meeting,” the foreign ministry said in a statement late on Wednesday. The meeting would take place Thursday in Jerusalem at the foreign ministry, it added.
While Spain has long ranked as one of the EU’s most outspoken critics of Israel’s war in Gaza, this week’s comments marked the first time the prime minister had used such strong language. He made the remarks nearly a year after Spain joined Ireland and Norway in officially recognising a Palestinian state.
Sánchez and his government have frequently clashed with Israel over their view of the war; in 2023 the Israeli government recalled its ambassador to Madrid after Sánchez said he had “genuine doubts” about whether Israel was complying with international humanitarian law in its offensive in Gaza.
Ashifa Kassam, the Guardian’s European community affairs correspondent, reporting from Madrid, Spain.
Updated
And some more of Donald Trump speaking to US troops during a visit to al-Udeid airbase in Doha, Qatar, today:
Here are some of the latest images coming in today via the newswires:
Donald Trump has said that the US’s air campaign against the Houthi rebels was “very successful, but maybe tomorrow, an attack will be made, in which case we go back on the offensive”, reports CBS News senior White House reporter, Jennifer Jacobs.
Jacobs wrote on X that Trump had made the comments in Doha, Qatar, where the US president is on a visit to the Middle East.
Updated
Germany’s Lufthansa airline group said on Thursday its suspension of flights to and from Tel Aviv would last until at least 25 May amid ongoing regional conflict.
Lufthansa said in a statement the decision to extend the suspension was made “due to the current situation”, without giving further details, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The group – whose carriers include Eurowings, Swiss, Austrian and Brussels airlines – initially suspended its flights to Israel’s main airport after a 4 May rocket attack launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, and has extended the suspension several times.
The missile landed near a car park at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion international airport and injured six people, in a rare penetration of Israel’s air defences.
The Houthis have repeatedly targeted Israel throughout its war with Hamas, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Twice this week the Israeli military said it intercepted missiles fired by the Houthis, with the Houthis saying they were targeting Tel Aviv airport.
Updated
Donald Trump, who began his first major foreign tour in Saudi Arabia and later on Thursday heads to the United Arab Emirates, has been unabashed about seeking Gulf money and hailed the effect on creating jobs at home, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“This is a record tour. There’s never been a tour that will raise – it could be a total of $3.5-4tn just in these four or five days,” Trump said in Qatar.
In Doha, the president hailed what he said was a record $200bn deal for Boeing aircraft.
Saudi Arabia promised its own $600bn in investment, including one of the largest-ever purchases of US weapons, reports AFP.
The final stop of his tour is the UAE, which is seeking to become a leader in technology and especially artificial intelligence to help diversify its oil-reliant economy. But these ambitions hinge on access to advanced US technologies, including AI chips under restricted export – which the UAE president’s brother and spy chief sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed reportedly lobbied for during a Washington visit in March.
The Gulf leaders’ largesse has also stirred controversy, with Qatar offering Trump a luxury aeroplane prior to his visit for presidential and then personal use, in what Trump’s Democratic rivals charged was blatant corruption.
Updated
Gaza civil defence says toll from latest Israeli strikes up to 82
Gaza’s civil defence agency has said that the death toll from Israeli strikes overnight into Thursday is up to 82 people, updating a previous toll.
“The number of martyrs from Israeli airstrikes on Gaza has risen to 82 after the occupation targeted several homes in northern Gaza,” civil defence spokesperson Mohammad al-Mughayir told AFP, after the agency earlier reported at least 50 dead (see 8.27am BST).
Palestinian medics had most recently said the death toll was at least 60 people (see 9.55am BST).
Trump says US close to a nuclear deal with Iran
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States was getting very close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran, and Tehran had “sort of” agreed to the terms.
“We’re in very serious negotiations with Iran for long-term peace,” Trump said on a tour of the Gulf, according to a shared pool report by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He said:
We’re getting close to maybe doing a deal without having to do this … there [are] two steps to doing this, there is a very, very nice step and there is the violent step, but I don’t want to do it the second way.
An Iranian source familiar with the negotiations told AFP that there were still gaps to bridge in the talks with the United States.
Oil prices fell by about $2 on Thursday on expectations for a US-Iran nuclear deal that could result in sanctions easing.
Fresh talks between Iranian and US negotiators to resolve disputes over Tehran’s nuclear programme ended in Oman on Sunday with further negotiations planned, officials said, as Tehran publicly insisted on continuing its uranium enrichment.
Though Tehran and Washington have both said they prefer diplomacy to resolve the decades-long nuclear dispute, they remain divided on several red lines that negotiators will have to circumvent to reach a new deal and avert future military action, reports AFP.
Iran’s president reacted to Trump’s comments on Tuesday calling Tehran the “most destructive force” in the Middle East. “Trump thinks he can sanction and threaten us and then talk of human rights. All the crimes and regional instability is caused by them [the United States],” Masoud Pezeshkian said. “He wants to create instability inside Iran.”
However, in an interview with NBC News published on Wednesday, an Iranian official said Iran was willing to agree to a deal with the US in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Iran would commit to never making nuclear weapons and getting rid of its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, agree to enrich uranium only to the lower levels needed for civilian use and allow international inspectors to supervise the process, NBC reported.
Death toll in Gaza from overnight Israeli strikes rises to at least 60 people
The death toll in Gaza from overnight Israeli military strikes has risen to at least 60 people, according to Palestinian medics.
Most of the victims, including women and children, were killed in Khan Younis in southern Gaza in airstrikes that hit homes and tents, they said.
According to Reuters, there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Updated
It was a short distance but a very long journey from a bombed-out hospital in Gaza to the Jordanian border. Zeinab al Astal arrived with her two sick sons as dusk was falling on Wednesday evening, and she seemed stunned they had made it at all.
Twenty-four hours earlier she had been watching chunks of ceiling crash down to the floor around them, after Israel bombed the European hospital in Khan Younis where they were staying.
“This medical evacuation saved us,” she said, minutes after crossing into Jordan, where her sons Ahmad, 13, and Qassem, 15, will get treatment for leukaemia, something that is now almost impossible inside Gaza.
Medical equipment has been destroyed, medicines are running out, one in three hospitals have been closed by attacks, those partly functioning are overcrowded with victims of airstrikes and assaults, and the ranks of doctors and nurses have been decimated by Israeli detention and killings.
The Astal brothers and other cancer patients are doubly unlucky children, trapped in a brutal war while also fighting their own traumatic battles against a deadly disease.
Their best hope of survival is to apply for treatment abroad, and then wait for Israeli authorities’ response – although trying to get an exit permit can feel like a grim lottery.
CBS News senior White House reporter, Jennifer Jacobs, has shared more on Trump’s latest comments about Gaza.
On X, Jacobs wrote:
TRUMP said wants a Gaza “freedom zone.”
“I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good: Make it a freedom zone, let the United States get involved,” he told us in Doha, Qatar.
“I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone, let some good things happen. Put people in homes where they can be safe.”
Trump said “the Gaza problem has never been solved.
“Hamas is going to have to be dealt with,” he said. “Remember, Oct. 7 was one of the worst days in the history of the world, I think, not just, not just local to this region, it was one of the worst, most atrocious attacks anyone’s ever seen.”
Trump says US should 'take' Gaza and turn it into 'freedom zone'
President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wanted the United States to “take” Gaza and turn it into a “freedom zone”, as the Israel-Hamas war rages on in the Palestinian territory, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good, make it a freedom zone, let the United States get involved and make it just a freedom zone,” the US leader said in Qatar, adding:
I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone.
Updated
Donald Trump has said he wants the US to make a ‘freedom zone’ in Gaza, according to a breaking news line from Agence France-Presse (AFP).
More details soon …
Gaza’s civil defence agency spokeperson Mahmud Bassal said at least 13 people were “recovered from rubble” after a dawn strike in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, while another 35 were killed in 12 separate strikes across the Gaza Strip.
Bassal added that in southern Gaza, one woman was killed in artillery shelling, and one man by gunfire.
President Donald Trump has attended a business forum in Qatar, reports the Associated Press (AP).
Trump sat with GE Aerospace’s Larry Culp and Boeing Co’s Kelly Ortberg on either side of him on Thursday. According to the AP, both praised Trump for his support for the Qatar Airways order for Boeing aircraft, with Ortberg calling it one of the largest orders Boeing has ever had.
On Thursday, Trump plans to address troops at Qatar’s al-Udeid airbase, which was a major staging ground during the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and supported the recent US air campaign against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis.
The US president has held up Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar as models for economic development in a region plagued by conflict as he works to entice Iran to come to terms with his administration on a deal to curb its nuclear programme.
Trump will then head to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Updated
Trump visits Middle East as airstrikes kill more than 50 people in Gaza
Multiple airstrikes have hit Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis overnight, killing more than 50 people in a second consecutive night of heavy bombing.
The Associated Press (AP) said its cameraman in Khan Younis counted 10 airstrikes on the city overnight into Thursday, and saw numerous bodies taken to the morgue in the city’s Nasser hospital. The hospital’s morgue confirmed 54 people had been killed.
The dead included a journalist working for Qatari television network Al Araby TV, the network announced on social media, saying Hasan Samour had been killed along with 11 members of his family in one of the strikes in Khan Younis.
It was the second night of heavy bombing, after airstrikes on Wednesday on northern and southern Gaza killed at least 70 people, including almost two dozen children.
The strikes come as US president Donald Trump is on a trip to the Middle East, visiting Gulf states but not Israel.
An Israeli blockade of Gaza is now in its third month. Nearly half a million Palestinians are facing possible starvation while 1 million others can barely get enough food, according to findings by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed earlier in the week to push ahead with a promised escalation of force in Israel’s war to pursue his aim of destroying the Hamas militant group.
In other developments:
President Donald Trump on Thursday will visit a US base installation at the centre of American involvement in the Middle East as he uses his four-day visit to Gulf states to reject the “interventionism” of America’s past in the region. The US president will also meet business leaders in Qatar and head to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Human Rights Watch said that Israel’s plan to seize Gaza, remain in the territory and displace hundreds of thousands of people “inches closer to extermination”. The international rights group called on the international community to speak out against the plan.
A pregnant Israeli woman has died after she was shot and critically injured in a shooting attack in the occupied West Bank, a hospital said Thursday. Beilinson hospital said that doctors succeeded in saving her unborn baby, who was in serious but stable condition after being delivered by caesarean section.
Updated
