Israel pounds Gaza city after forcing evacuation orders

Gaza City [Palestine], June 30 : Israel has launched at least 50 aerial strikes across Gaza, with a significant focus on eastern Gaza City, following forced evacuation warnings by the Israeli military, Al Jazeera reported.

According to medical sources cited by Al Jazeera, Israeli forces killed at least 68 Palestinians in Gaza on Sunday, including 47 in Gaza City and the northern areas of the territory. The ongoing war has now killed at least 56,500 people and wounded 133,419, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. In contrast, around 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7 attacks, during which over 200 individuals were taken captive.

Al Jazeera further reported that Egypt's Foreign Minister has revealed efforts to broker a new Gaza deal involving a 60-day ceasefire in exchange for the release of some Israeli captives.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chaired a high-level security meeting at the Southern Command base in Beersheba on Sunday, with top military and security officials. The agenda focused on the war in Gaza and prospects for a ceasefire. However, Al Jazeera reported that the meeting concluded without any tangible breakthrough.

Military sources suggest Israel is nearing the end of its ground operations in Gaza, asserting that no further strategic gains are possible without endangering the remaining captives held in the territory. Despite this, Netanyahu has reiterated his belief that it is possible to defeat Hamas while simultaneously securing the release of hostages through military means.

Mediators continue to urge Israel to send delegations to Cairo or Doha to negotiate a ceasefire agreement. However, Israel reportedly seeks only a temporary pause in fighting that would allow for resumption of military operations after 60 days. In contrast, Hamas has demanded a permanent end to the conflicta disagreement that has persisted for months and remains the primary obstacle to any resolution, according to Al Jazeera.

Amid these stalled negotiations, the Israel Defense Forces announced the elimination of Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issaone of the founders of Hamas' military wingdescribing him as a mastermind of the October 7, 2023, attack in a late Saturday night post.

In a post on X, the IDF said, "ELIMINATED: eliminated Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issaone of the founders of Hamas' military wing. Issa led Hamas' force build-up, training, and planned the October 7 massacre. As Head of Combat Support, he advanced aerial & naval attacks against Israelis. The IDF & ISA will continue to locate and eliminate all terrorists involved in the October 7 massacre."

Meanwhile, as per Al Jazeera, Israel continued its attacks across the Gaza Strip, including an attack that killed at least 20 people, including nine children, in Gaza City's Tuffah neighbourhood.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said he believes a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas could be reached within a week.

Trump came out with the surprise comment while speaking to reporters on Friday, saying he was hopeful after speaking to some of the people involved in trying to get a truce.

"I think it's close. I just spoke to some of the people involved," Trump said, as per Al Jazeera.

"We think within the next week we're going to get a ceasefire," the president said, without revealing who he had been in contact with, as per Al Jazeera.

There is an understanding, according to many reports, that Netanyahu would have to agree to some sort of ceasefire in exchange for normalisation deals with Arab states, which the Trump administration has promoted. Hamas, on the other hand, requires that Israel stop its war on Gaza and for the Israeli military to withdraw from areas it seized in Gaza after breaking the last ceasefire in March.

Trump's ceasefire prediction comes at a time of mounting killings by Israeli forces in Gaza and growing international condemnation of Israel's war amid the latest revelation that soldiers said they were ordered to shoot unarmed Palestinian civilians seeking humanitarian aid in the territory, as per Al Jazeera.

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