‘Make the deal': Donald Trump shifts focus back on Gaza
US President Donald Trump has seemingly returned his focus to the war in Gaza after his role in broking a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
Mr Trump had spent most of Sunday, AEST, doing a running commentary on events at the Capitol where the US Senate was debating his 'Big, Beautiful Bill'.
Then in a later post on his Truth Social account, made at about 1am Washington DC time, the President urged Israel and Hamas to strike an agreement in its ongoing conflict.
'MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!! DJT,' he wrote.
Mr Trump, who has closely aligned himself with Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu, was referencing the Israeli hostages taken by militant group Hamas during its October 7, 2023 terror attacks.
It is believed 50 hostages remain after Hamas released some of its captives during earlier ceasefire agreements. Israel's war in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of more than 50,000 Palestinians, according to local authorities.
Speaking on Friday, US time, Mr Trump said he believed a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was 'close'.
'I just spoke to some of the people involved,' he said. 'We think within the next week we're going to get a ceasefire.'
Israel's military on Sunday issued an evacuation order for northern Gaza, warning Palestinians in parts of Gaza City and nearby areas of imminent action there.
The warning, which comes more than 20 months into the war with Hamas, foreshadowed 'intense force in these areas'.
Israeli Defense Force spokesman Avichay Adraee posted to X that 'these military operations will intensify and expand … to destroy the capabilities of the terrorist organisations'.
Mr Adraee's post was accompanied by a map of northern Gaza, telling residents to 'evacuate immediately south to Al-Mawasi'.
'Hamas is harming you and bringing disaster upon you,' he wrote.
'Returning to dangerous combat zones poses a threat to your lives.'
There has been increasing global criticism over ongoing civilian deaths in the Palestinian territory, with reports of famine and shootings at food aid sites.
Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed 37 people on Saturday, including at least nine children who died in strikes.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP 35 people were killed in seven Israeli drone and air strikes in various locations, and two others by Israeli fire while waiting for food aid in the Netzarim zone in central Gaza.
He said the dead included three children who were killed in an air strike on a home in Jabalia, in northern Gaza.
Mr Bassal said at least six more children died in a neighbourhood in the northeast of Gaza City, including some in an air strike near a school where displaced people were sheltering.
Israeli news outlet Haaretz this week published a story citing unnamed IDF soldiers who claim they were 'ordered' to open fire at unarmed civilians near aid distribution centres.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Saturday that he was concerned at the '500 people who have lost their life' in similar incidents in recent weeks.
He said France 'stands ready, Europe as well, to contribute to the safety of food distribution' in Gaza.
The Israeli military has strongly denied allegations made in Haaretz, telling the Times of Israel its soldiers operated 'under difficult conditions against a terrorist enemy that operates from within the civilian population'.
'IDF soldiers receive clear orders to avoid harming innocent civilians, and they act accordingly.'
Mr Trump also backed Mr Netanyahu in a Truth Social post on Srurday, local time, saying he was 'not going to stand' for an ongoing corruption case being run against the Israel Prime Minister.
An Israeli court on Friday rejected Mr Netanyahu's request to postpone giving testimony in his corruption trial, ruling that he had not provided adequate justification for his request.
In one case, Netanyahu and his wife Sara are accused of accepting more than US$260,000 worth of luxury goods such as cigars, jewellery and champagne from billionaires in exchange for political favours.
Mr Trump called Mr Netanyahu a 'war hero' and likened the court case to his own legal battles in recent years.
'Importantly, he is right now in the process of negotiating a Deal with Hamas, which will include getting the Hostages back,' he wrote.
'How is it possible that the Prime Minister of Israel can be forced to sit in a Courtroom all day long, over NOTHING (Cigars, Bugs Bunny Doll, etc.).
'It is a POLITICAL WITCH HUNT, very similar to the Witch Hunt that I was forced to endure.'
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