Israeli strikes kill 40 in Gaza, with no sign of a breakthrough after Trump’s talks with Netanyahu

By WAFAA SHURAFA KAREEM CHEHAYEB and MELANIE LIDMAN DEIR AL-BALAH Gaza Strip AP Israeli airstrikes killed at least Palestinians in the Gaza Strip including members of a family sheltering in a tent hospital administrators commented Wednesday The strikes came as U S President Donald Trump pushed for a ceasefire that might end the war and free dozens of Israeli hostages Related Articles Antisemitism in Massachusetts K- schools is a pervasive and escalating predicament State commission Israel outlines plans to pack Gaza s population into a closed frontier zone Here s a closer look Israeli description accuses Hamas of using sexual violence as a weapon of war on Oct Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza and Israeli strikes kill Palestinians After the Iran war is it safe to go to Israel Here s what to know Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the second time in two days at the White House on Tuesday evening but there was no sign of a breakthrough Netanyahu has vowed to continue the -month war until Hamas is destroyed while the group has revealed it will only release the remaining hostages in return for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States Canada and the European Union Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis stated the dead included women and children The war has gutted Gaza s physical condition system with several hospitals taken out of institution and leading physicians killed in Israeli strikes The Israeli military reported it had struck more than targets across Gaza over the past day including fighters booby-trapped structures weapons storage facilities missile launchers and tunnels Israel accuses Hamas of hiding weapons and fighters among civilians I unveiled all my children dead On Wednesday crowds of people bid farewell to the members of the Shaaban family killed in an Israeli strike while they were inside their tent in the southern city of Khan Younis I revealed all my children dead and my daughters three children dead commented Um Mohammad Shaaban a nickname that means Mohammad Shaaban s mother It s supposed to be a safe area where we were She commented that strikes have intensified even as hope for a ceasefire has risen The hospital last night was jam-packed she mentioned As she wept over the bodies of her three grandchildren others holding the bodies struggled to let go before they were sent to burial Palestinians are struggling to secure food and water Palestinians are desperate for an end to the war that has killed tens of thousands destroyed vast areas and displaced around of the territory s population Aid groups say Israeli restrictions and the breakdown of law and order have made it extremely hard to deliver humanitarian assistance leading to widespread hunger and fears of famine In the sprawling coastal Muwasi area where hundreds of thousands of people live in tents after being displaced from their homes Abeer al-Najjar noted she had struggled during the constant bombardments to get food and water for her family I pray to God that there would be a pause and not just a pause where they would lie to us she declared referring to an earlier ceasefire that Israel ended in March We want a full ceasefire Her husband Ali al-Najjar explained life has been especially tough in the summer with little access to drinking water We hope this would be the end of our suffering and we can rebuild our country again he commented before running through a crowd with two buckets to fill them from a water truck People chased the bus as it drove away to another location Amani Abu-Omar mentioned the water truck comes every four days not enough for her dehydrated children She declared the summer heat and harsh conditions had caused skin rashes We had expected ceasefires on numerous occasions but it was for nothing she declared The war started after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct killing around people and taking hostage The greater part of the hostages have been circulated in earlier ceasefires Israel s offensive in Gaza has killed more than Palestinians more than half of them women and children according to Gaza s Medical Ministry The ministry which is under Gaza s Hamas-run establishment doesn t differentiate between civilians and combatants The U N and other international organizations see its figures as the the majority reliable statistics on war casualties Netanyahu and Trump meet again Netanyahu informed reporters Tuesday that he and Trump see eye to eye on the need to destroy Hamas He added that the cooperation and coordination between Israel and the U S is presently the best it has been during Israel s -year-history Later this week Trump s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to head to the Qatari capital of Doha to continue indirect negotiations with Hamas on the ceasefire proposal Witkoff stated late Tuesday that three key areas of disagreement had been resolved but that one key issue still remained He did not elaborate After the second meeting Netanyahu disclosed he and Trump also discussed the great domination over Iran from Israeli and American strikes during the -day war that ended two weeks ago Opportunities have been opened here for expanding the circle of peace for expanding the Abraham Accords declared Netanyahu referring to normalization agreements between Israel and multiple Arab nations that were brokered by Trump in his first term Washington has been pushing for normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel Chehayeb communicated from Beirut and Lidman revealed from Tel Aviv Israel Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this account