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Israeli airstrikes kill 38 Palestinians in Gaza, military hits 100 targets
The strikes came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was preparing to fly to Washington for talks at the White House aimed at pushing forward ceasefire efforts.
Separately, an Israeli official said the Israeli security Cabinet on Saturday night approved sending aid into the northern part of Gaza, where civilians are suffering from acute food shortages.
The official declined to offer more details. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the decision with the media.
In Yemen, a spokesperson for the Houthi rebel group announced in a prerecorded message that the group had launched ballistic missiles targeting Ben Gurion airport overnight. The Israeli military said these had been intercepted.
President Donald Trump has floated a plan for an initial 60-day ceasefire that would include a partial release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for an increase in humanitarian supplies allowed into Gaza. The proposed truce calls for talks on ending the 21-month war altogether.
Israel strikes dozens of targets Twenty people were killed and 25 wounded after Israeli strikes hit two houses in Gaza City, according to Mohammed Abu Selmia, the director of Shifa Hospital that services the area.
In southern Gaza, 18 Palestinians were killed by strikes in Muwasi, an area on Gaza's Mediterranean where many displaced people live in tents, officials at Nasser Hospital in the nearby city of Khan Younis, told The Associated Press. Two families were among the dead according to the hospital.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the individual strikes, but said it struck 130 targets across the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours.
It said the strikes targeted Hamas command and control structures, storage facilities, weapons and launchers, and that they killed a number of militants in northern Gaza.
The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage.
Israel responded with an offensive that has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
The ministry, which is under Gaza's Hamas government, does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. The UN and other international organisations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
Ceasefire deal being discussed The strikes occur as efforts to reach a ceasefire deal appeared to gain momentum. Netanyahu's office said his government will send a negotiating team to talks in Qatar on Sunday to conduct indirect talks, adding that Hamas was seeking unacceptable changes to the proposal.
The planned talks in Qatar comes ahead of Netanyahu's planned visit on Monday to Washington to meet US President Donald Trump to discuss the deal. It is unclear if a deal will be reached ahead of Netanyahu's White House meeting.
Hamas has sought guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Previous negotiations have stalled over Hamas demands of guarantees that further negotiations would lead to the war's end, while Netanyahu has insisted Israel would resume fighting to ensure the militant group's destruction.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Bitcoin Breaks Records Amid Shifting Regulatory Landscapes
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Declaring himself the 'crypto president,' Trump launched his second term with a sweeping executive order aimed at establishing American dominance in digital financial technology. The order catalysed a new era that includes a high-profile Digital Assets Summit at the White House and ushered in a wave of legislative proposals, from the Clarity Act and Anti-CBDC Act to the Genius Act, all designed to clarify regulation, restrict government-issued digital currencies, and empower the private issuance of stablecoins. The Genius Stablecoin Act, passed by the Senate in June 2025, signals progress in granting legitimacy to digital assets pegged to fiat currencies. Meanwhile, the Anti-Surveillance State Act stands as a bulwark against potential overreach by the Federal Reserve, reinforcing concerns about privacy in a digitally evolving economy. The financial establishment, from lawmakers to institutional giants, is taking note. Nigel Green of deVere Group encapsulated the mood, observing that crypto is no longer on the fringes, 'This is front and centre of US financial policy. Trump is championing it, lawmakers are acting on it, and Wall Street is all-in.' This shift isn't confined to America. Corporate interest in stablecoins is accelerating, with Amazon and Walmart reportedly exploring their own digital currencies to enhance consumer payment systems. This surge in valuation is mirrored by seismic shifts in policy sentiment worldwide. Governments that once approached cryptocurrencies with skepticism are now reevaluating their stance, particularly as crypto technologies prove critical to cross-border payments and the emergence of stablecoins. South Asia is echoing the trend. Pakistan claims it's on track to become South Asia's first nation to legalise cryptocurrency, touting the move as a magnet for foreign investment and a strategic leap over India's more restrained approach. 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The Coca-Cola debate: Is cane sugar healthier than high-fructose corn syrup?
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