Israeli strikes kill at least 17 across Gaza today

Israeli air strikes killed two people in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood on Sunday, bringing the total death toll from attacks across the enclave to at least 17, according to medical sources.

A separate strike in the Daraj neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City left one woman injured, health officials told reporters.

Yesterday, Israeli attacks killed 37 people in Gaza, including at least nine children.

Spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 35 people died in seven drone and air strikes across the enclave, while two others were shot dead in the Netzarim corridor while waiting for food aid. Three children were killed in a strike on a home in Jabalia, and at least six more died in northeast Gaza City near a school sheltering displaced families.

Israel orders evacuations in north Gaza as Trump urges end to war

The Israeli military ordered Palestinians to evacuate areas in northern Gaza before intensified fighting against Hamas, as US President Donald Trump called for an end to the war amid renewed efforts to broker a ceasefire.

"Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform early on Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to hold talks later in the day on the progress of Israel's offensive. A senior security official said the military will tell him the campaign is close to reaching its objectives, and warn that expanding fighting to new areas in Gaza may endanger the remaining Israeli hostages.

But in a statement posted on X and text messages sent to many residents, the military urged people in northern parts of the enclave to head south towards the Al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis, which Israel designated as a humanitarian area. Palestinian and UN officials say nowhere in Gaza is safe.

"The (Israeli) Defense Forces is operating with extreme force in these areas, and these military operations will escalate, intensify, and extend westward to the city center to destroy the capabilities of terrorist organizations," the military said.

Read: Trump says Gaza ceasefire possible next week

The evacuation order covered the Jabalia area and most Gaza City districts. Medics and residents said the Israeli army's bombardments escalated in the early hours in Jabalia, destroying several houses and killing at least six people.

In Khan Younis in the south, five people were killed in an airstrike on a tent encampment near Mawasi, medics said.

The escalation comes as Arab mediators, Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, begin a new ceasefire effort to halt the 20-month-old conflict and secure the release of Israeli and foreign hostages still being held by Hamas.

Interest in resolving the Gaza conflict has heightened in the wake of US and Israeli bombings of Iran's nuclear facilities.

A Hamas official told Reuters the group had informed the mediators it was ready to resume ceasefire talks, but reaffirmed the group's outstanding demands that any deal must end the war and secure an Israeli withdrawal from the coastal territory.

Hamas has said it is willing to free remaining hostages in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive, only in a deal that will end the war. Israel says it can only end it if Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms.

Frontman Liam O'Hanna, whose stage name is Mo Chara, was charged with a terrorism offense last month, for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November.

A map was included marking affected zones in northern Gaza.

#عاجل ‼️تحذير الى كل المتواجدين في منطقة مدينة غزة وجباليا وفي أحياء الزيتون الشرقي، البلدة القديمة، التركمان، اجديدة، التفاح، الدرج، الصبرة، جباليا البلد، جباليا النزله، معسكر جباليا، الروضة، النهضة، الزهور، النور، السلام وتل الزعتر
⭕️من أجل أمنكم، اخلوا فوراً جنوباً الى منطقة… pic.twitter.com/WdIPuWZiax

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) June 29, 2025

"Israeli forces will operate with intense force in these areas," Adraee said. "These military operations will intensify and expand… to destroy the capabilities of the terrorist organisations."

The warning comes more than 20 months into the war with Hamas, as Israeli forces continue operations throughout Gaza. The order signals a likely escalation in northern sectors that have already faced heavy bombardment during earlier phases of the conflict.

Humanitarian agencies have repeatedly raised concerns about the safety and logistical feasibility of mass civilian evacuations under fire, particularly as Al-Mawasi is already overcrowded with displaced people.

Read more: Israeli soldiers ordered to shoot at unarmed aid seekers in Gaza: report

66 children die of malnutrition

At least 66 children have died from malnutrition in Gaza during Israel’s ongoing military campaign and blockade, Gaza authorities.

The media office in Gaza accused Israel of committing a “war crime” by deliberately using starvation as a weapon against the civilian population.

In a strongly worded statement, the office described the deaths as “an ongoing crime against childhood in the Gaza Strip,” and denounced what it called “the shameful international silence regarding the suffering of children who are left to fall prey to hunger, disease, and slow death.”

Officials placed direct blame on Israel and its allies, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, saying all share responsibility for what they described as a humanitarian catastrophe.

The office called on the United Nations to immediately intervene and open crossings into Gaza to allow the delivery of food, medicine, and humanitarian supplies.

Israel's war on Gaza

The Israeli army has launched a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing at least 61,709 Palestinians, including 17,492 children. More than 111,588 people have been injured, and over 14,222 are missing and presumed dead.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.