Israeli strikes killed at least 14 people in Gaza on Wednesday, according to the territory’s civil defence agency.
These deaths come as U.S. President Donald Trump urged the Palestinian group Hamas to agree to a 60-day ceasefire.
The conflict, ongoing for nearly 21 months, has severely worsened humanitarian conditions for Gaza’s more than two million residents. The Israeli military recently announced an expansion of its operations this week.
In southern Gaza, civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that an Israeli airstrike killed five members of the same family and wounded several others in a tent housing displaced people in the coastal Al-Mawasi area.
Images from nearby Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis showed medics treating blood-covered children, some terrified, others lying still with bloodied bandages. Despite being declared a safe zone by Israel in December 2023, Al-Mawasi has faced repeated Israeli strikes.
Further north, Bassal reported 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 died in a drone strike on a house in the central Deir el-Balah area.
Due to media restrictions and access difficulties in Gaza, AFP could not independently verify these tolls and details. When contacted, the Israeli military requested precise coordinates for the targeted locations and stated it would “try to look into” the reports.
Trump’s Ceasefire Push Amid Expanded Israeli Operations
On Tuesday, the Israeli military stated that its forces had recently expanded operations across Gaza, claiming to have “eliminated dozens of terrorists and dismantled hundreds of terror infrastructure sites.”
After months of stalled mediation efforts, President Trump announced on social media Tuesday that a new ceasefire proposal has Israel’s backing.
“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 conflict, would deliver “this final proposal.”
Trump urged, “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 scheduled to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House next week.
The current Israeli offensive began in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, which resulted in 1,219 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has since killed at least 56,647 people in Gaza, predominantly civilians, as reported by the Hamas-run health ministry, figures the United Nations considers reliable.
