Residents in Gaza have reported intense Israeli gunfire and shelling as Israel’s military announced the expansion of its operations, just days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s anticipated trip to Washington.
The escalated assaults followed increasing calls for a ceasefire, with US President Donald Trump—whom Netanyahu is scheduled to meet next week—among those encouraging Israel to negotiate a new deal to halt the conflict and secure the release of hostages still held in Gaza.
According to Gaza’s civil defense agency, Israeli forces killed at least 20 people today.
Injured Palestinians are brought to hospital following an Israeli airstrike.
Raafat Halles, 39, from the Shujaiya district of Gaza City, stated, “Air strikes and shelling have intensified over the past week,” noting that tanks have been advancing.
Amer Daloul, a 44-year-old Gaza City resident, reported increasing clashes between Israeli forces and militants, revealing that he and his family were forced to flee the tent they were living in at dawn today “due to heavy and random gunfire and shelling.”
Photographers captured Israeli tanks maneuvering at the Gaza border in southern Israel and children sifting through the ruins of a destroyed home in Gaza City.
Others documented Palestinians grieving over the bodies of relatives in the city’s Al-Shifa hospital and the Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza.
Israeli troops are deployed at a point on Israel’s border with Gaza.
Aid seekers killed
Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal reported that eight individuals were killed near aid distribution sites in central and southern Gaza, marking the latest in a series of deadly attacks on those seeking food.
He noted that one person was killed and 50 injured when tanks and drones opened fire as crowds waited to collect aid near the Wadi Gaza Bridge in the middle of the region.
The civil defense agency indicated that an additional six individuals were killed nearby while attempting to reach the same aid center.
Another casualty occurred near a separate aid center in Rafah, the agency added.
Regarding these incidents, the Israeli military stated that its forces “fired warning shots to disperse individuals who approached the troops,” claiming they were unaware of any injuries but would investigate the incidents.
In the Rafah case, they asserted that the shots were fired “hundreds of meters away from the aid distribution site,” which was “not operational.”
Mr. Bassal later confirmed that an airstrike resulted in three fatalities in front of a school sheltering displaced individuals in the Al-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City, bringing the overall toll to 20.
Displaced Palestinians queue for hot meals amid the worsening crisis in Gaza.
Calls for the return of a UN-led aid mechanism
A coalition of 169 aid organizations urged an end to Gaza’s “deadly” new US- and Israeli-backed aid distribution scheme yesterday, asserting that it has been leading to civilian casualties.
They reported that the system compelled starving civilians to “trek for hours through dangerous terrain and active conflict zones, only to face a violent, chaotic scramble” for food.
The organizations called for a return to the UN-led aid mechanism that was in place until March, when Israel imposed a full blockade on humanitarian assistance entering Gaza during stalled truce negotiations with Hamas.
The new scheme’s administrator, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), has distanced itself from allegations of aid seekers being killed near its centers.
Netanyahu to visit the White House
Mr. Netanyahu announced his upcoming visit to meet with Mr. Trump and senior US security officials next week amid growing pressure to put an end to over 20 months of devastating conflict in Gaza.
Mr. Trump pledged to take a “very firm” approach on ending the war when he meets with the Israeli premier on July 7.
“But he (Netanyahu) wants it too…. He wants to end it too,” the US president remarked.
Hamas official Taher al-Nunu expressed the group’s willingness to agree to any proposal that could lead to a cessation of hostilities and a permanent ceasefire, alongside the complete withdrawal of occupation forces.
“So far, there has been no breakthrough.”
