Trump, Netanyahu to meet as Gaza hostage crisis deepens

U.S. President Donald Trump will hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, as Israeli tanks pushed deeper into Gaza City and the military wing of Hamas said it had lost contact with two hostages held there.

The Hamas military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, on Sunday called on Israel to pull back its troops and suspend air strikes on Gaza City for 24 hours so it could reach the two trapped hostages.

The Israeli military did not directly comment on the request but made clear it had no plans to halt its advances. It issued a statement ordering all residents of parts of Gaza City, including the Sabra district, to evacuate, saying it was preparing to strike Hamas targets and demolish buildings in the area.

Israel has launched a massive ground assault on Gaza City, flattening entire districts and ordering hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee to tented camps. Netanyahu has said the offensive aims to destroy Hamas.

The Gaza Health Ministry said on Sunday that at least 77 people had been killed by Israeli fire in the past 24 hours. Local health authorities added that they had been unable to respond to dozens of desperate calls from trapped residents.

Gaza's Civil Emergency Service said late on Saturday that Israel had denied 73 requests, submitted via international organizations, to rescue injured Palestinians in Gaza City. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

On Sunday, Egypt dispatched a large humanitarian aid convoy carrying nearly 3,000 tonnes of urgent relief supplies to the Gaza Strip, according to the Egyptian Red Crescent.

Famine and malnutrition have also claimed 422 lives, including 145 children, since the conflict began, Gaza's health authorities said.

Diplomatic efforts

Trump told Reuters in a phone interview that he had received a "very good response" from Israel and Arab leaders to his Gaza peace plan proposal, saying that "everybody wants to make a deal."

Hamas, however, said the group had not yet received any proposal from Trump or from mediators.

Nevertheless, the past few days have seen increasing talk of a diplomatic resolution to the nearly two-year-old Gaza conflict.

Trump unveiled a Middle East peace plan during meetings with Arab and Muslim leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The plan calls for an end to the conflict, the return of all Israeli hostages – living and dead – an end to Israeli attacks on Qatar, and the launch of new dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians for "peaceful coexistence."

Meanwhile, Israel's international isolation has deepened, with countries including the UK, France, and Canada officially recognizing Palestinian statehood, breaking with long-standing U.S.-led diplomatic protocols.

Facing increasing isolation abroad and mounting pressure at home, Netanyahu is set to defend his intention to "finish the job" in Gaza when he meets Trump on Monday.

"He has no other choice but to accept" Trump's plan for a ceasefire, Eytan Gilboa, an expert on U.S.-Israel relations at Israel's Bar-Ilan University, told AFP.

Ksenia Svetlova, a former Knesset member, told AFP that "this kind of broad plan would need a broad consensus."

She predicted that Netanyahu would likely accept only parts of Trump's proposal, while attempting to negotiate or postpone other elements that "seem difficult in this moment."

(With input from agencies)