Heavy Israeli strikes kill 60 in Gaza ahead of U.S.-brokered ceasefire talks

At least 60 people were killed across Gaza on Monday in some of the heaviest Israeli strikes in weeks, as Israeli officials were due in Washington for renewed ceasefire talks pushed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

A day after Trump called to "Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back," Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer headed to Washington for talks on Iran and Gaza, according to an Israeli official and a source familiar with the matter.

Dermer was expected to begin meetings with Trump administration officials on Tuesday, the source in Washington said.

But on the ground, fighting escalated across the Palestinian enclave. The Israeli military issued evacuation orders on Monday for large districts in northern Gaza, forcing a new wave of displacement.

Israeli tanks pushed into eastern Zeitoun, a suburb in Gaza City, while aircraft bombed at least four schools after ordering hundreds of families sheltering inside to leave, residents said.

At least 58 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Monday, health authorities said, including 10 people in Zeitoun and at least 13 in southwest of Gaza City. Medics said majority of the 13 people were hit by gunfire, but residents also reported an airstrike.

Twenty-two people – including women, children, and a local journalist – were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a beachfront cafe in Gaza City, medics said. The Palestinian Journalist Syndicate said more than 220 journalists had been killed in Gaza since the onset of the war in October 2023.

The Israeli military claimed it struck militant targets in northern Gaza, including command and control centers, after taking steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the reported casualties near the beachfront cafe or in the southwest Gaza Strip. 

(With input from Reuters)