TEL AVIV, June 29 (AP/AFP/Reuters): US President Donald Trump on Sunday pleaded for progress in ceasefire talks in the war in Gaza, calling for a deal that would halt the fighting in the 20-month-long conflict as Israel and Hamas appeared to be inching closer to an agreement.
An Israeli official said plans were being made for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to travel to Washington in the coming weeks, a sign there may be movement on a new deal. The official declined to discuss the focus of the visit and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss plans that had not yet been finalized.
"MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!" Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social early Sunday between posts about a Senate vote on his tax and spending cuts bill.
Trump raised expectations Friday for a deal, saying there could be a ceasefire agreement within the next week. Taking questions from reporters, he said, "We're working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of."
Trump has repeatedly called for Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza. Despite an eight-week ceasefire reached just as Trump was taking office earlier this year, attempts since then to bring the sides toward a new agreement have failed.
A top adviser to Netanyahu, Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, was set to travel to Washington this week for talks on a ceasefire.
Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes and gunfire killed at least 17 people including three children in the war-stricken Palestinian territory on Sunday.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 16 people died in air strikes at five locations around the Gaza Strip, and another from Israeli fire near an aid distribution centre.
The Israeli military told AFP it was not able to comment on the reported incidents but said it was fighting "to dismantle Hamas military capabilities" in a campaign launched in 2023 against the Islamist militant group whose attack on Israel triggered the war.
Restrictions on media in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers.
Bassal said two children were killed in an air strike on their home in Gaza City's Zeitun neighbourhood in the early morning, and "the house was completely destroyed."
A member of the family, Abdel Rahman Azzam, 45, told AFP he was at home and "heard a huge explosion at my relative's house". "I rushed out in panic and saw the house destroyed and on fire," he added.
"We evacuated more than 20 injured people, including two martyrs-two children from the family. The screams of children and women were non-stop," Azzam said.
"They bombed the house with a missile without any prior warning. This is a horrific crime. We sleep without knowing if we will wake up."
Elsewhere, Bassal said a drone strike on a tent housing displaced people near the southern city of Khan Yunis killed five people including a child.
He said that other casualties included a young man killed "by Israeli fire this morning while waiting for aid" near a humanitarian distribution centre in the southern city of Rafah.
Israel orders evacuations in northern Gaza as Trump calls for war to end
"Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back," Trump posts on his Truth Social platform early on Sunday
Another report adds: The Israeli military ordered Palestinians to evacuate areas in northern Gaza on Sunday before intensified fighting against Hamas, as US President Donald Trump called for an end to the war amid renewed efforts to broker a ceasefire.
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