Israeli airstrikes killed at least 72 Palestinians in Gaza between Friday and Saturday morning, health officials in the Hamas-run territory said, as President Trump expressed optimism that a ceasefire could be reached in the coming days.
Among the dead were 12 people killed near the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, where many displaced families had sought shelter, according to staff at Shifa Hospital who received their bodies. More than 20 others were killed in strikes on the Nasser Hospital area, while 11 people died in a separate attack midday Saturday on a street in eastern Gaza City. Their bodies were taken to Al-Ahli Hospital.
In Muwasi, near the southern city of Khan Younis, an Israeli strike on a tent camp overnight killed a couple and their three children while they were sleeping, relatives said.
“What did these children do to them? What is their fault?” asked the children’s grandmother, Suad Abu Teima, as she waited for their bodies to arrive at the morgue.
The surge in airstrikes came as Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that a truce between Israel and Hamas could be imminent.
“I think it’s close,” he said Friday. “We think within the next week, we’re going to get a ceasefire.”
Neither the Israeli government nor Hamas have publicly commented on whether negotiations have advanced.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has pressured both sides to pause hostilities. Yet a deal has remained elusive, with talks repeatedly collapsing since Israel resumed its campaign in March, deepening Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe.
Late last month, Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, proposed a 60-day ceasefire. Under that plan—details of which were obtained by CBS News—Hamas would free 10 living hostages and hand over the remains of 18 others abducted during the October 2023 attacks. In exchange, Israel would release 125 prisoners serving life sentences, 1,111 Palestinian detainees, and the bodies of 180 deceased Palestinians.
Israel endorsed the proposal, but Hamas submitted amendments that Witkoff called “totally unacceptable.”
An official familiar with the talks said Israel’s Minister for Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, will travel to Washington next week for further discussions on the ceasefire, Iran, and other regional issues. The official spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to brief reporters.
Roughly 50 hostages remain in Gaza, though fewer than half are believed to be alive. They were among the approximately 250 people seized in Hamas’ attack on October 7, which triggered the 21-month war.
Gaza’s health ministry says more than 56,000 Palestinians have been killed since then, more than half of them women and children. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Some families of the hostages have expressed hope that Trump’s involvement—after helping broker a recent truce between Israel and Iran—might add pressure for a resolution.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, buoyed by public support following the Iran conflict, may feel he has more political space to negotiate an end to the war in Gaza, despite opposition from far-right partners in his coalition.
Hamas has reiterated it would release all hostages if Israel agreed to end the war, but Netanyahu has insisted he will not stop military operations until Hamas is disarmed and removed from Gaza—conditions Hamas has rejected outright.
Meanwhile, Palestinians face an increasingly desperate humanitarian crisis. After a blockade of food shipments for more than two months, Israel began allowing limited deliveries into Gaza in mid-May.
Distribution has been chaotic, with aid convoys looted by armed gangs or overwhelmed by desperate crowds. Some Palestinians have been shot while trying to reach distribution sites operated by the American- and Israeli-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to Gaza health officials and witnesses.
Witnesses reported Israeli troops firing on crowds traveling to the aid locations. Israel’s military said it is reviewing reports of civilians harmed during those incidents.
