Copy in clipboard...
Israeli massacre rages on before Trump-Netanyahu Gaza talk
The Israeli occupation army killed 33 more Palestinians and injured many others in attacks across the Gaza Strip on Monday, according to medics and local sources.
Most of the deadly attacks targeted the strip’s Gaza City where the regime has launched a massive military operation in recent weeks.
Medical sources said among the dead were four Palestinians who were killed while waiting for humanitarian aid in the southern Gaza Strip.
The death toll from the Israel’s aggression against the Palestinian territory in 2023 reached 66,055.
Thousands of victims also remain under the rubble and in the streets, as Israeli bombardment continues to hinder the efforts of ambulance and civil defense crews. The relentless strikes have rendered the territory uninhabitable and led to starvation. Israel launched the attacks before a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
Trump has presented a 21-point plan to both sides to end the nearly two-year war, free hostages held by Hamas and disarm the Palestinian fighters. The US president said Sunday on social media that, "ALL ARE ON BOARD FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL, FIRST TIME EVER," and held talks with key Arab leaders at the United Nations last week.
But Netanyahu has given little reason for optimism, vowing in a defiant UN speech Friday to "finish the job" against Hamas and rejecting Palestinian statehood — recently recognized by several Western nations.
Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff had sent a "very detailed 21-point plan to both sides and the president expects both sides to agree," she said.
Trump's plan, according to The Times of Israel and US news site Axios, called for an immediate cease-fire, a phased Israeli withdrawal and the release of hostages within 48 hours.
Israel would then free more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including several serving life terms. Normally a staunch ally of Netanyahu, the US president has shown increasing signs of frustration ahead of the Israeli premier's fourth White House visit since Trump's return to power.
He warned Netanyahu last week against annexing the occupied West Bank, as some of Netanyahu's cabinet members have urged, and also opposed Israel's recent strike on Hamas members in key US ally Qatar.
Families of Israeli captives held in Gaza have urged Trump to uphold his Gaza proposal.