US pushes for Gaza truce
The Republican leader was asked by reporters if a ceasefire in the devastating war between Israel and Palestinians could be in place before a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House, set for July 7.
"We hope it's going to happen and we're looking for it to happen sometime next week," Trump responded as he departed Washington for Florida.
The swift resolution of Israel's 12-day war with Iran has revived hopes for a halt to the fighting in Gaza, where more than 20 months of combat have created dire humanitarian conditions for the population of more than two million.
Trump has previously urged Israel to "make the deal in Gaza," but on the ground, Israel has continued to pursue its offensive across the Palestinian territory.
Israeli planes and tanks struck heavily in north and south Gaza on Tuesday, destroying clusters of homes, while Netanyahu's confidant was in Washington, expected to discuss a possible ceasefire.
Thousands of Gaza residents again took flight as Israel issued new orders to evacuate, while its tanks pushed into eastern areas of Gaza City in the north and into Khan Yunis and Rafah in the south, residents said.
Local health authorities said Israeli gunfire and military strikes across the enclave had killed at least 112 people and wounded more than 400 in the past 24 hours, with clusters of houses reported destroyed in Gaza City's Shejaia and Zeitoun districts, east of Khan Yunis and in Rafah. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
The intensified operations came after days of mounting calls for a ceasefire, with Trump among those urging Israel to strike a new deal to halt the war and bring home the hostages still held in Gaza.
Israel's campaign to destroy the Palestinian group Hamas has continued unabated, however, with Gaza's civil defence agency reporting Israeli forces killed 17 people on Tuesday.
In response to reports of deadly strikes in the north and south of the territory, the Israeli army said it was "operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities".
Separately, it said on Tuesday morning that in recent days it had "expanded its operations to additional areas within the Gaza Strip, eliminating dozens of terrorists and dismantling hundreds of terror infrastructure sites both above and below ground".
Hamas official Taher al Nunu said the group is "ready to agree to any proposal if it will lead to an end to the war and a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of occupation forces". "So far, there has been no breakthrough." — AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
an hour ago
- Observer
HAMAS SEEKS CEASEFIRE AS GAZA TOLL
Hamas is seeking guarantees that a new US ceasefire proposal for Gaza would lead to the war's end, a source close to the group said on Thursday, as medics said Israeli strikes across the territory had killed scores more people. Israeli officials said prospects for reaching a ceasefire deal and hostage deal appeared high, nearly 21 months since the war between Israel and Hamas began. Efforts for a Gaza truce have gathered steam after the US secured a ceasefire to end a 12-day aerial conflict between Israel and Iran, but on the ground in Gaza intensified Israeli strikes continued unabated, killing at least 59 people on Thursday, according to health authorities in the territory. On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said that Israel had accepted the conditions needed to finalise a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, during which the parties will work to end the war. Hamas is seeking clear guarantees that the ceasefire will eventually lead to the war's end, the source close to the group said. Two Israeli officials said those details were still being worked out. Ending the war has been the main sticking point in repeated rounds of failed negotiations. Egyptian security sources said Egyptian and Qatari mediators were working to secure US and international guarantees that talks on ending the war would continue as a way of convincing Hamas to accept the two-month truce proposal. A separate source familiar with the matter said that Israel was expecting Hamas' response by Friday and that if it was positive, an Israeli delegation would join indirect talks to cement the deal. The proposal includes the staggered release of 10 living Israeli hostages and the return of the bodies of 18 more in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, sources say. Of the 50 remaining hostages in Gaza, 20 are believed to still be alive. A senior Israeli official close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said preparations were in place to approve a ceasefire deal even as the premier heads to Washington to meet Trump on Monday. In Gaza, however, there was little sign of relief. According to medics at Nasser hospital, at least 20 people were killed by Israeli fire en route to an aid distribution site. Further north, at least 17 people were killed in an Israeli strike at a school in Gaza City, according to medics. The Israeli military said it targeted a key Hamas gunman operating there and that it took precautions to reduce risk to civilians. "Suddenly, we found the tent collapsing over us and a fire burning. We don't know what happened," one witness, Wafaa Al Arqan, who was among the people sheltering there, said. "What can we do? Is it fair that all these children burned?" The war began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent military assault has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, while displacing most of the population of more than 2 million, triggering widespread hunger and leaving much of the territory in ruins. Israel says it won't end the war while Hamas is still armed and ruling Gaza. Hamas, severely weakened, says it won't lay down its weapons but is willing to release all the hostages still in Gaza if Israel ends the war. - Reuters
Observer
4 hours ago
- Observer
Oman urges global action for Palestinian rights
GENEVA: The Sultanate of Oman took part in an interactive dialogue on the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories during the 59th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. Oman emphasized the importance of the detailed report, which focuses on the legal and humanitarian dimensions, particularly the role of certain economic entities in practices that entrench Israeli occupation and exacerbate its impact on the Palestinian people. In a speech delivered by Idris Abdulrahman Al Khanjari, Oman's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other international organisations in Geneva, Oman noted that some companies provide services, infrastructure, or technologies used in illegal settlement projects. This raises concerns under international law, particularly the Geneva Conventions and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Oman stressed that addressing this situation requires effective commitment from states and relevant entities to ensure private sector compliance with international law. It also called for enhanced regulatory frameworks and monitoring tools to curb such violations, along with strengthened legal accountability mechanisms - including for parties directly or indirectly contributing to systematic abuses - to uphold international law and prevent impunity. Furthermore, Oman reaffirmed its steadfast position in supporting international efforts to end the occupation and enable the Palestinian people to exercise their legitimate rights, foremost among them the right to self-determination, based on international legitimacy resolutions and the two-state solution to promote regional security and stability. - ONA
Times of Oman
15 hours ago
- Times of Oman
Trump says "didn't make any progress at all" with Putin during phone call
Washington, DC: US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that in his recent phone call with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, he had made "no progress at all" on efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine. Speaking to reporters on Thursday (US local time), Trump stated that over their phone call he and Putin discussed a lot of things, including Iran and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. "We had a call. It was a pretty long call. We talked about a lot of things including Iran and we also talked about, as you know, the war with Ukraine. I'm not happy about that," Trump said. Asked whether any progress was made on potential deal to end the conflict in Ukraine , Trump responded, "No. I didn't make any progress with him today at all." During their telephonic conversation, Putin made it clear that Russia will "not back down" on its goal of "eliminating" the root cause of the war in Ukraine, Al Jazeera reported. "Russia will not back down," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters after Putin's call with Trump. However, he added that Putin expressed "readiness" to "seek a political and negotiated solution to the conflict. "Putin emphasised that Russia seeks to achieve its goals in Ukraine and remove the "root causes" of the conflict, Ushakov said. The "root cause" here refers to Ukraine's push to join NATO, following which Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 to prevent Kyiv from joining the US-centric alliance. The Trump-Putin phone call between two leaders came a day after the US paused promised weapon deliveries to Kyiv, including air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, Al Jazeera reported. On June 27, Putin said Russia will no longer engage in "one-sided" games with the West, RT reported. He made these remarks while addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) summit in Minsk. According to RT, Putin said that Western nations have repeatedly betrayed Russia by not honouring their promises regarding NATO expansion and resolving the Ukraine conflict. He emphasised that NATO is using alleged Russian "aggressiveness" to justify plans to increase defence spending to 5 per cent of member states' GDP and bolster military presence in Europe. "They [the West] are turning everything upside down," Putin said. "No one is saying a word about how we've come up to the Russian special military operation," he continued, asserting that the Ukraine conflict's origins date back decades, when Moscow was "blatantly lied to" about NATO's intentions. "What followed was one expansion wave after another," he added. Putin said Russia's repeated security concerns regarding NATO's activities were ignored by the West. He said, "Isn't it aggressive behaviour? That is precisely aggressive behaviour, which the West does not want to pay attention to." The Russian President also accused Western nations of supporting separatist and terrorist movements as long as they targeted Russia.
