Israeli strikes killed at least 60 people across Gaza on Monday in some of the heaviest attacks in weeks, as Israeli officials prepared to travel to Washington for a new ceasefire push by U.S. President Donald Trump.
A day after Trump called to "Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back," Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was en route to Washington for talks on Gaza and Iran, according to an Israeli official and a source familiar with the matter.
Dermer is expected to begin meetings with Trump administration officials on Tuesday, the Washington source said.
But on the ground in the Palestinian enclave, there was no sign of the fighting letting up. The Israeli military issued evacuation orders on Monday to residents in large districts in the northern Gaza Strip, triggering a new wave of displacement.
"Explosions never stopped; they bombed schools and homes. It felt like earthquakes," said Salah, 60, a father of five from Gaza City. "In the news, we hear a ceasefire is near. On the ground, we see death and hear explosions."
"Look at us, we are not just numbers and not just pictures. Every day martyrs like this," said displaced woman Amani Swalha, standing in the rubble of a Gaza City school hit in a strike. "It is our right to live, and to live with dignity, not like this in humiliation."
Israeli tanks pushed into the eastern areas of the Zeitoun suburb in Gaza City and shelled several areas in the north, while aircraft bombed at least four schools after ordering hundreds of families sheltering inside to leave, residents said.
At least 58 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Monday, health authorities reported, including 10 in Zeitoun and at least 13 southwest of Gaza City. Medics said most of the 13 were hit by gunfire, though residents also reported an airstrike.
Twenty-two people, including women, children, and a local journalist, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a beachfront cafe in Gaza City, medics said. The Palestinian Journalist Syndicate said more than 220 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war began in October 2023.
The Israeli military said it struck militant targets in northern Gaza, including command and control centers, after taking steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians.
There was no immediate word from Israel on the reported casualties southwest of Gaza or the beachfront cafe attack.
The bombardment followed new evacuation orders to vast areas in the north, where Israeli forces had previously operated and left widespread destruction. The military ordered residents to move south, saying it planned to target Hamas militants operating in northern Gaza, including central Gaza City.
'Make the Deal'
Alongside talks on Gaza ceasefire prospects, Dermer also plans to discuss Netanyahu's possible visit to the White House in the coming weeks, according to the source familiar with the matter. Netanyahu’s security cabinet in Israel was also expected to convene to discuss the next steps in Gaza.
On Friday, Israel's military chief said the current ground operation was close to achieving its goals. On Sunday, Netanyahu said new opportunities had emerged for recovering the hostages, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive.
Palestinian and Egyptian sources familiar with the ceasefire talks said mediators Qatar and Egypt have stepped up contact with both sides, but no date has been set for a new round of negotiations.
A Hamas official said progress depends on Israel agreeing to end the war and withdraw from Gaza. Israel says the war will only end once Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down arms.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel has accepted a U.S.-proposed 60-day ceasefire and hostage deal, placing the onus on Hamas. "Israel is serious in its will to reach a hostage deal and ceasefire in Gaza," Saar told reporters.
Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger, speaking in Jerusalem, said the humanitarian situation in Gaza was "unbearable."
"The suffering of civilians is increasingly burdening Israel’s relations with Europe. A ceasefire must be agreed upon," she said, calling for the unconditional release of hostages by Hamas and for Israel to allow the uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Israel says it continues to allow aid into Gaza and accuses Hamas of stealing it. Hamas denies the accusation and accuses Israel of using hunger as a weapon against Gaza’s population.
The U.S. has proposed a 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release half the hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the remains of Palestinian dead. The remaining hostages would be released as part of a broader agreement to end the war.
The war began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 251 hostages to Gaza in a surprise assault—Israel's single deadliest day.
Israel's military response has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health authorities. Nearly all of Gaza's 2.3 million residents have been displaced, and the enclave faces a deepening humanitarian crisis.
More than 80% of the territory is now either a militarized zone or under evacuation orders, according to the United Nations.
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