40 Palestinians killed in Gaza as Netanyahu and Trump meet over a
ceasefire
[July 09, 2025]
By WAFAA SHURAFA, KAREEM CHEHAYEB, and MELANIE LIDMAN
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — At least 40 Palestinians were killed in
Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, hospital officials said Wednesday,
as international mediators raced to complete a ceasefire deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a second meeting in two
days with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday
evening. Trump has been pushing for a ceasefire that might lead to an
end to the 21-month war in Gaza. Israel and Hamas are considering a new
U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal that would pause the war, free Israeli
hostages and send much-needed aid into Gaza.
Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis said the dead
included 17 women and 10 children. It said one strike killed 10 people
from the same family, including three children.
The Israeli military did not comment on specific strikes, but said it
had struck more than 100 targets across Gaza over the past day,
including militants, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage
facilities, missile launchers and tunnels. Israel accuses Hamas of
hiding weapons and fighters among civilians.
Struggle to secure food and water
Many Palestinians are watching the ceasefire negotiations with
trepidation, desperate for an end to the war.
In the sprawling coastal Muwasi area, where many live in ad-hoc tents
after being displaced from their homes, Abeer al-Najjar said she had
struggled during the constant bombardments to secure sufficient food and
water for her family. “I pray to God that there would be a pause, and
not just a pause where they would lie to us with a month or two, then
start doing what they’re doing to us again. We want a full ceasefire.”
Her husband, Ali al-Najjar, said life has been especially tough in the
summer, with no access to drinking water in a crowded tent in the Middle
Eastern heat. “We hope this would be the end of our suffering and we can
rebuild our country again,” he said, before running through a crowd with
two buckets to fill them from a water truck.
People chased the vehicle as it drove away to another location.
Amani Abu-Omar said the water truck comes every four days, not enough
for her dehydrated children. She complained of skin rashes in the summer
heat. She said she was desperate for a ceasefire but fears she would be
let down again. “We had expected ceasefires on many occasions, but it
was for nothing,” she said.
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Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli army bombardment in the
northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, July 8,
2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
The war started after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing
around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. Most of the hostages
have been released in earlier ceasefires. Israel’s offensive in Gaza
has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them
women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t
differentiate between civilians and combatants. The U.N. and other
international organizations see its figures as the most reliable
statistics on war casualties.
Netanyahu and Trump meet again
Netanyahu told reporters in the Capitol on Tuesday that he and Trump
see “eye to eye” on the need to destroy Hamas. He added that the
cooperation and coordination between Israel and the U.S. is
currently the best it has ever been during Israel’s 77-year-history.
Later this week, Trump's Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected
to head to the Qatari capital of Doha to continue indirect
negotiations with Hamas on the ceasefire proposal.
Witkoff said late Tuesday that three key areas of disagreement had
been resolved, but that one key issue still remained. He did not
elaborate.
After the second meeting, Netanyahu said he and Trump also discussed
the “great victory” over Iran from Israeli and American strikes
during the 12-day war that ended two weeks ago.
“Opportunities have been opened here for expanding the circle of
peace, for expanding the Abraham Accords,” said Netanyahu, referring
to normalization agreements between Israel and multiple Arab nations
that were brokered by Trump in his first term. Washington has been
pushing for normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
___
Chehayeb reported from Beirut, and Lidman reported from Tel Aviv,
Israel. Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani in Washington
contributed to this report.
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