Israeli strikes killed at least 60 people across Gaza yesterday in some of the heaviest attacks in weeks as Israeli officials were due in Washington for a new ceasefire push by US President Donald Trump.
A day after Trump called to ‘Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back’, Israel’s strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s, was travelling to Washington for talks on Iran and Gaza, according to an Israeli official and a source familiar with the matter.
Dermer was expected to begin meetings with Trump administration officials today, the source in Washington said.
But on the ground in the Palestinian enclave, there was no sign of fighting letting up. The Israeli military issued evacuation orders on Monday to residents in large districts in the northern Gaza Strip, forcing a new wave of displacement.
Israeli tanks pushed into the eastern areas of Zeitoun suburb in Gaza City and shelled several areas in the north, while aircraft bombed at least four schools after ordering hundreds of families sheltering inside to leave, residents said.
Alongside talks on Gaza ceasefire prospects, Dermer also plans to discuss Netanyahu’s possible visit to the White House in coming weeks, according to the source familiar with the matter.
A US official said Trump plans to host Netanyahu at the White House on July 7.
In Israel, Netanyahu’s security cabinet was expected to convene to discuss the next steps in Gaza.
On Friday, Israel’s military chief said the present ground operation was close to having achieved its goals, and on Sunday, Netanyahu said new opportunities had opened up for recovering the hostages, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive.
Palestinian and Egyptian sources with knowledge of the latest ceasefire efforts said that mediators Qatar and Egypt have stepped up their contacts with the two warring sides, but that no date has been set yet for a new round of truce talks.
A Hamas official said that progress depends on Israel changing its position and agreeing to end the war and withdraw from Gaza. Israel says it can end the war only when Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel has agreed to a US-proposed 60-day ceasefire and hostage deal, and put the onus on Hamas. He told reporters: “Israel is serious in its will to reach a hostage deal and ceasefire in Gaza.”
Pro-Palestinian campaign organisation Palestine Action said in London yesterday it had initiated legal proceedings to challenge the British government’s intention to ban the group under anti-terrorism laws.
The proscription – expected to be laid before parliament – would make it a criminal offence to belong to the group, and was announced days after its activists damaged two British military planes in protest at London’s support for Israel.
Palestine Action previously condemned the government’s move, calling it ‘an unhinged reaction’, and said that London’s High Court had granted the group an urgent hearing on Friday to consider permission for a legal challenge to the proscription.
The group is seeking a court order to prevent the government from proscribing the group pending its case being heard, Palestine Action said.
It includes written statements from human rights experts at Amnesty International and others that have expressed concerns.
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