Israel kills 33 as Trump teases Gaza ceasefire push
Published: 04:07 PM,Jul 02,2025 | EDITED : 08:07 PM,Jul 02,2025
Mourners pray during a funeral of displaced Palestinians,at Khan Yunis' Nasser hospital. — AFP
GAZA: Gaza's civil defence agency said that Israeli strikes killed at least 33 people on Wednesday, as US President Donald Trump urged Palestinian group Hamas to agree to a 60-day ceasefire. After nearly 21 months of war which has created dire humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip, home to more than two million people, the Israeli military said this week it had expanded its operations.
In southern Gaza on Wednesday, civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said that five members of the same family were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli air strike that hit a tent housing displaced people in the coastal Al Mawasi area. Images from the nearby Nasser Hospital, in Khan Yunis city, showed medics treating young children covered in blood. Some appeared terrified while others lay still on hospital beds in bloodied bandages and clothes.
Despite being declared a safe zone by Israel in December 2023, Al Mawasi has been hit by repeated Israeli strikes. Further north, Bassal said that four people from the same family were killed in a pre-dawn Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza City, and another five in a drone strike on a house in the central Deir el-Balah area. The Israeli military requested precise coordinates for the targeted locations and said it 'will try to look into' the reports.
On Tuesday, the military said that in recent days its forces had expanded operations across Gaza. After months of stalled mediation efforts to bring an end to the war, Trump on Tuesday said on social media that a new ceasefire proposal has Israel's support. 'Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalise the 60-Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War,' Trump said. He added that Qatari and Egyptian mediators, who have been in direct contact with Hamas throughout the war, would deliver 'this final proposal'. 'I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE.' Trump is due to host Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House next week. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 56,647 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers these figures to be reliable.
Israel's top diplomat on Wednesday said any chance to free hostages held in Gaza 'must not be missed', after US President Donald Trump urged Palestinian group Hamas to agree to a 60-day ceasefire that he said had Israel's backing. Without directly mentioning Trump's remarks, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that 'a large majority within the government and the population is in favour of the plan to free the hostages' held by Hamas in Gaza. 'If the opportunity arises, it must not be missed!' Saar wrote on X. Out of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during Hamas's 2023 attack that triggered the war, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27, the Israeli military says, are dead.
Meanwhile, Switzerland said on Wednesday it would close the Geneva branch of the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation because it had neither a Swiss address nor a representative in the country. An officially private effort with opaque funding, GHF began operations on May 26 after Israel halted supplies into Gaza for more than two months, sparking mass famine warnings.
In the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce, the Swiss Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations (ESA) on Wednesday published 'a call for creditors following the liquidation' of the GHF. The ESA can 'order the dissolution of the foundation if no creditor comes forward within the legal period of 30 days', an interior ministry spokeswoman said. 'The GHF confirmed to the ESA that it had never been active in Switzerland and that it intended to dissolve the Geneva-registered foundation,' she added.— AFP
In southern Gaza on Wednesday, civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said that five members of the same family were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli air strike that hit a tent housing displaced people in the coastal Al Mawasi area. Images from the nearby Nasser Hospital, in Khan Yunis city, showed medics treating young children covered in blood. Some appeared terrified while others lay still on hospital beds in bloodied bandages and clothes.
Despite being declared a safe zone by Israel in December 2023, Al Mawasi has been hit by repeated Israeli strikes. Further north, Bassal said that four people from the same family were killed in a pre-dawn Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza City, and another five in a drone strike on a house in the central Deir el-Balah area. The Israeli military requested precise coordinates for the targeted locations and said it 'will try to look into' the reports.
On Tuesday, the military said that in recent days its forces had expanded operations across Gaza. After months of stalled mediation efforts to bring an end to the war, Trump on Tuesday said on social media that a new ceasefire proposal has Israel's support. 'Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalise the 60-Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War,' Trump said. He added that Qatari and Egyptian mediators, who have been in direct contact with Hamas throughout the war, would deliver 'this final proposal'. 'I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE.' Trump is due to host Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House next week. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 56,647 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers these figures to be reliable.
Israel's top diplomat on Wednesday said any chance to free hostages held in Gaza 'must not be missed', after US President Donald Trump urged Palestinian group Hamas to agree to a 60-day ceasefire that he said had Israel's backing. Without directly mentioning Trump's remarks, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that 'a large majority within the government and the population is in favour of the plan to free the hostages' held by Hamas in Gaza. 'If the opportunity arises, it must not be missed!' Saar wrote on X. Out of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during Hamas's 2023 attack that triggered the war, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27, the Israeli military says, are dead.
Meanwhile, Switzerland said on Wednesday it would close the Geneva branch of the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation because it had neither a Swiss address nor a representative in the country. An officially private effort with opaque funding, GHF began operations on May 26 after Israel halted supplies into Gaza for more than two months, sparking mass famine warnings.
In the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce, the Swiss Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations (ESA) on Wednesday published 'a call for creditors following the liquidation' of the GHF. The ESA can 'order the dissolution of the foundation if no creditor comes forward within the legal period of 30 days', an interior ministry spokeswoman said. 'The GHF confirmed to the ESA that it had never been active in Switzerland and that it intended to dissolve the Geneva-registered foundation,' she added.— AFP