Israeli strike on shelter leaves 23 people dead

GAZA, Apr 23 (AP/AFP): An overnight Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City killed 23 people, as Arab mediators worked on a proposal to end the war with Hamas that would include a five to seven year truce and the release of all remaining hostages, officials said Wednesday.
There was no immediate Israeli comment on the strike, which set several tents ablaze, burning people alive. The military says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because its fighters are embedded in densely populated areas.
France, Germany and Britain meanwhile said Israel's seven-week-old blockade on all imports to Gaza, including food, was "intolerable," in unusually strong criticism from three of the country's closest allies.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Hamas to release the hostages in order to "block Israel's pretexts" for continuing the war. He reiterated his demands that Hamas give up their arms, referring to them as "sons of dogs" in unusually strong language during a speech in the West Bank.
Abbas, who heads the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, has no influence over Hamas but is seeking a role in postwar Gaza.
Egypt and Qatar are still developing the proposal, which would include the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the entire strip and the release of Palestinian prisoners, according to an Egyptian official and a Hamas official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
Germany, France, UK say
Israel's Gaza aid
blockade 'must end'
Germany, France and Britain on Wednesday called on Israel to stop blocking humanitarian aid into Gaza, warning of "an acute risk of starvation, epidemic disease and death".
"This must end," their foreign ministers said in a joint statement. "We urge Israel to immediately re-start a rapid and unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza in order to meet the needs of all civilians."
After 18 months of devastating war and an Israeli blockade on aid since March 2, the UN has warned of a dire humanitarian situation for the 2.4 million inhabitants of the Palestinian territory.
Israel has accused Palestinian militant group Hamas of diverting aid, which it denies.
US will not let Hamas to join
post-war Gaza govt: Trump
The United States will not let Palestine's radical movement Hamas to participate in the Gaza Strip's government in the future, US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House.
When asked by a reporter whether Washington will prevent Hamas from having any role in the governing of Gaza after the conflict, Trump replied: "We're not going to let Hamas do that."
"We're going to see what happens with Gaza, but we've made a lot of progress in the Middle East," he went on.