Israeli strikes kill at least 62 in Gaza as ceasefire prospects advance

DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes killed at least 62 people across Gaza overnight and into Saturday, health workers said, as ceasefire prospects were said to be improving.

Three children and their parents were killed in an Israeli strike on a tent camp in Muwasi near the southern city of Khan Yunis. They were struck while sleeping, relatives said.

“What did these children do to them? What is their fault?” said the children’s grandmother, Suad Abu Teima, as others knelt to kiss their bloodied faces and wept. Some placed red flowers into the body bags.

Also among the dead were 12 people near the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, which was sheltering displaced people, and eight more in apartments, according to staff at Shifa Hospital. More than 20 bodies were taken to Nasser Hospital, according to health officials.

A midday strike killed 11 people on a street in eastern Gaza City, and their bodies were taken to Al-Ahli Hospital. A strike on a gathering at the entrance to the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip killed two, according to Al-Awda Hospital.

President Trump said there could be a ceasefire agreement within the next week. Taking questions from reporters Friday, he said, “We’re working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of.”

An official with knowledge of the situation told the Associated Press that Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer will arrive in Washington next week for talks on a Gaza ceasefire, Iran and other subjects. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas have been on again, off again since Israel broke the latest ceasefire in March, continuing its military campaign in Gaza and furthering the territory’s dire humanitarian crisis. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, fewer than half believed to still be alive. They were among 251 hostages taken when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, sparking the 21-month war.

The war has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, including 6,089 since the end of the latest ceasefire, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tallies. It says that more than half of the dead were women and children.

Israel says it targets only militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, accusing the militants of hiding among civilians because they operate in populated areas.

There is hope among families of hostages that Trump’s involvement in securing the recent ceasefire between Israel and Iran might lead to more pressure for a deal in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is riding a wave of public support for Israel’s war on Iran, and he could feel he has more space to move toward ending the war in Gaza, something his far-right governing partners oppose.

Hamas has said it is prepared to free all the hostages in exchange for an end to the war in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israel forces. Netanyahu says he will end the war only once Hamas is disarmed and exiled, something the group has rejected.

Meanwhile, hungry Palestinians are enduring a catastrophic situation in Gaza. After blocking all food entering the territory for 2½ months, Israel has allowed only a trickle of supplies since mid-May.

More than 500 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more wounded while seeking food since the newly formed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, backed by Israel and the U.S., began distributing aid in the territory about a month ago, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli troops have opened fire at crowds on roads heading toward the sites. The Israeli military says that it has fired only warning shots and that it was investigating incidents in which civilians have been killed or injured while approaching the sites.

Thousands of Palestinians walk for hours to reach the sites, moving through Israeli military zones.

Separate efforts by the United Nations to distribute limited food have been plagued by armed gangs looting trucks and by crowds of desperate people offloading supplies from convoys.

Shurafa and Mednick write for the Associated Press and reported from Deir al Balah and Tel Aviv, respectively.