Israel issues evacuation warning for Gaza residents, Trump says Gaza ceasefire possible within a week

The Israel Defense Forces' Arabic spokesman on Friday issued an evacuation warning on social media, calling on Palestinian residents in the northern and central Gaza Strip to evacuate immediately.

The statement said the Israeli army is making every effort to destroy the militants' ability to operate in the area.

At least 40 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and shelling across the Gaza Strip on Friday, according to Palestinian sources.

Eyewitnesses said Israeli forces opened fire on thousands of civilians waiting for food near a U.S.-backed aid distribution center north of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

Medics from Nasser Hospital in the southern Khan Younis city reported seven Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in the attack, some in serious condition.

In a separate incident, another Palestinian was killed and 39 others injured after the Israeli army opened fire on people waiting for aid in central Gaza, Nuseirat's al-Awda Hospital said in a statement.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense, also reported at least 32 deaths across the enclave due to Israeli airstrikes and shelling.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on these incidents.

Meanwhile, Hamas on Friday called on the United Nations to establish an international committee to investigate the killing of Palestinians by Israeli army fire outside U.S.-backed aid distribution centers in the Gaza Strip.

The faction called the move "a blatant crime and further evidence of the brutality of the occupation (Israel) and its leaders," urging the resumption of aid distribution operated by the UN and international humanitarian organizations.

Palestinians have reportedly been targeted in recent weeks while waiting for food aid in various areas of the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, sparking widespread international condemnation.

On March 18, Israel resumed its military operations in the enclave. At least 6,008 Palestinians have been killed and 20,591 others injured since Israel renewed its intensive strikes, bringing the total death toll since October 2023 to 56,331, and injuries to 132,632, Gaza-based health authorities said on Friday.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he believes it is possible that a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas will be reached within a week.

At an Oval Office event, Trump told reporters he believes a ceasefire is close. He said he had just been talking to some of the people involved in trying to reach a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in the Palestinian enclave.

"I think it's close. I just spoke to some of the people involved," Trump said. "We think within the next week we're going to get a ceasefire."

He did not say who he has been talking to, but he has told reporters he was in near-daily contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the Israel-Iran conflict.

Hamas has said it is willing to free remaining hostages in Gaza under any deal to end the war, while Israel says the war can only end if Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for a ceasefire in Gaza following the suspension of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran.

The conflict between Israel and Iran has dominated headlines, but the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza must not be pushed into the shadows, Guterres said. "The ceasefire achieved between Iran and Israel offers hope. And hope is more needed than ever. So it is time to find the political courage for a ceasefire in Gaza."

Following the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas, Israeli military operations have created a humanitarian crisis of horrific proportions – more dire today than at any point in this long and brutal crisis, he told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.

Families have been displaced again and again and are now confined to less than one-fifth of Gaza's land. Even these shrinking spaces are under threat. Bombs are falling – on tents, on families, on those with nowhere left to run. People are being killed simply trying to feed themselves and their families, he noted.

"Let me be clear: Israel, as the occupying power, is required by international law to agree to and to facilitate humanitarian relief," he said, noting that UN-led humanitarian operations continue to be strangled.

It is time for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and full, safe and sustained humanitarian access, he said.

"To those in power, I say: enable our operations as international humanitarian law demands. To those with influence, I say: use it. To all member states, I say: uphold the UN Charter you recommitted to just yesterday for the 80th anniversary," Guterres said. "Let us bring in the life-saving supplies. Let us reach people where they are. And let us recognize that the solution to this problem is ultimately political."

(With input from agencies)