Israel threatens Hamas with 'annihilation'
Israel on Friday said Hamas must accept a hostage deal in Gaza or "be annihilated", as US President Donald Trump announced that a ceasefire agreement was "very close".
It came amid dire conditions on the ground, with the United Nations warning that Gaza's entire population was at risk of famine.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said Hamas must agree to a ceasefire proposal presented by US envoy Steve Witkoff or be destroyed, after the Palestinian group said the deal failed to satisfy its demands.
"The Hamas murderers will now be forced to choose: accept the terms of the 'Witkoff Deal' for the release of the hostages -— or be annihilated."
Israel has repeatedly said that destruction of the militant group was a key aim of the war.
Negotiations to end nearly 20 months of war in Gaza have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough, with Israel resuming operations in March following a short-lived truce. In the United States, Trump told reporters "they're very close to an agreement on Gaza", adding: "We'll let you know about it during the day or maybe tomorrow."
All the while, food shortages in Gaza persisted, with aid only trickling in after the partial lifting by Israel of a more than two-month blockade.
Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency, on Friday called Gaza "the hungriest place on earth".
"It's the only defined area -- a country or defined territory within a country -- where you have the entire population at risk of famine," he said.
Later, the UN condemned the "looting of large quantities of medical equipment" and other supplies "intended for malnourished children" from one of its Gaza warehouses by armed individuals. Aid groups have previously warned that desperation for food and medicine among Gazans was causing security to deteriorate.
Israel has meanwhile doubled down on its settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, while defying calls from French President Emmanuel Macron and other world leaders for a two-state solution. This week it announced the creation of 22 new settlements in the West Bank.
London called the move a "deliberate obstacle" to Palestinian statehood, and UN chief Antonio Guterres' spokesman said it pushed efforts towards a two-state solution "in the wrong direction".
On Friday, Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed to build a "Jewish Israeli state" in the Palestinian territory which Israel has occupied since 1967.
Israeli settlements in the West Bank -- considered illegal under international law -- are seen as a major obstacle to a lasting peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Katz framed the move as a direct rebuke to Macron and others pushing for recognition of a Palestinian state.
Macron on Friday said that recognition of a Palestinian state, with some conditions, was "not only a moral duty, but a political necessity".
Israel's foreign ministry accused the French president of undertaking a "crusade against the Jewish state".
Separately, a diplomatic source told AFP that Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan would make the first visit of its kind to the West Bank on Sunday.
The White House announced on Thursday that Israel had "signed off" on a new ceasefire proposal submitted to Hamas.
The Palestinian militant group said the deal failed to satisfy its demands, but stopped short of rejecting it outright.
In a statement on Friday, it said it was "holding consultations" on the proposal.
Gaza's civil defence agency told AFP that at least 45 people had been killed in Israeli attacks on Friday, including seven in a strike targeting a family home in Jabalia in the north.
Palestinians sobbed over the bodies of their loved ones at Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital following the strike, AFPTV footage showed.
"These were civilians and were sleeping at their homes," said neighbour Mahmud al-Ghaf, describing "children in pieces".
"Stop the war!" said Mahmud Nasr, who lost relatives. "We do not want anything from you, just stop the war." The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Jabalia strike, but said separately that the air force had hit "dozens of targets" across Gaza over the past day.
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