Israeli strikes kill 20 people in Gaza as US President wraps up his Middle East visit

The widespread attacks across northern Gaza come as Trump finishes his visit to Gulf states but not Israel. There had been widespread hope that Trump's regional visit could usher in a ceasefire deal or renewal of humanitarian aid to Gaza

Deir Al-Balah (Gaza): Israeli strikes killed at least 20 people in Gaza on Friday morning, as US President Donald Trump wraps up his Middle East visit.

An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies at the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, where they were brought. Survivors said many people were still under the rubble.

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The widespread attacks across northern Gaza come as Trump finishes his visit to Gulf states but not Israel. There had been widespread hope that Trump’s regional visit could usher in a ceasefire deal or renewal of humanitarian aid to Gaza. An Israeli blockade of the territory is now in its third month.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes. The strikes lasted hours into Friday morning, sending people fleeing from the Jabaliya refugee camp and the town of Beit Lahiya and followed days of similar attacks that killed more than 130 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed earlier in the week to push ahead with a promised escalation of force in Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip to pursue his aim of destroying the Hamas militant group, which governs Gaza.

In comments released by Netanyahu’s office Tuesday, the Prime Minister said Israeli forces were days away from entering Gaza “with great strength to complete the mission … It means destroying Hamas.” It was unclear if Friday’s bombardment was the start of the operation.

The war began when Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in an Oct 7, 2023, intrusion into southern Israel. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. Almost 3,000 have been killed since Israel broke a ceasefire on March 18, the ministry said.

Hamas still holds 58 of the roughly 250 hostages it took during its Oct 7 attack on Israel, with 23 believed to still be alive, although Israeli authorities have expressed concern for the status of three of those.

The attacks come as Israel enters its third month of blockading Gaza, preventing food, fuel, medicine and all other supplies from entering, worsening a humanitarian crisis. Israel says the blockade aims to pressure Hamas to release the hostages it still holds and that it won’t allow aid back in until a system is in place that gives it control over distribution.

Earlier this week, a new humanitarian organisation that has US backing to take over aid delivery said it expects to begin operations before the end of the month, after what it describes as key agreements from Israeli officials.

A statement from the group, called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, identified several US military veterans, former humanitarian coordinators and security contractors that it said would lead the delivery effort.

Many in the humanitarian community, including the UN, said the system does not align with humanitarian principles and won’t be able to meet the needs of Palestinians in Gaza and won’t participate in it.