Trump sees 'great progress' on Gaza ceasefire
GAZA: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that "great progress" was being made to end the war in Gaza as a new ceasefire push began more than 20 months since the start of the conflict. "I think great progress is being made on Gaza," Trump told reporters ahead of a Nato summit in the Netherlands, adding that his special envoy Steve Witkoff had told him "Gaza is very close." He linked his optimism about imminent "very good news" for the Gaza Strip to a ceasefire agreed on Tuesday between Israel and Iran to end their 12-day war.
Key mediator Qatar announced on Tuesday that it would launch a new push for a ceasefire, with Hamas on Wednesday saying talks had "intensified". "Our communications with the brother mediators in Egypt and Qatar have not stopped and have intensified in recent hours," Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said. He cautioned, however, that the group had "not yet received any new proposals" to end the war. The Israeli government declined to comment on any new ceasefire talks beyond saying that efforts to return Israeli hostages in Gaza were ongoing "on the battlefield and via negotiations". — AFP
Seven soldiers were killed in Gaza after an attack on their armoured vehicle, Israel said on Wednesday, in one of the deadliest incidents for its forces in the more than 20-month war. The troops were operating in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis on Tuesday when their vehicle caught fire after assailants attached an explosive device to it, the Israeli military said. The army's website listed the names of the seven soldiers, including a platoon commander from the battalion who "fell during combat in the southern Gaza Strip".
The latest Israeli military losses led to rare criticism of the war effort by the leader of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, a partner in Netanyahu's coalition government. "I still don't understand why we are fighting there... Soldiers are getting killed all the time," lawmaker Moshe Gafni told a hearing in the Israeli parliament on Wednesday.
The slain soldiers were from the Israeli combat engineering corps and were conducting a reconnaissance mission in the Khan Yunis area in southern Gaza when their vehicle was targeted with an explosive device, according to a military statement. — AFP
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