Four Gaza hospitals receive 45 bodies as Israel violates ceasefire

Britain concerned over escalation by Israel in Gaza , Trump says ceasefire still holds

GAZA CITY: The British Foreign Office expressed concern over the escalation carried out by the Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip.

“The escalation today in Gaza is deeply concerning,” Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said in a statement. “The ceasefire must hold and humanitarian aid must get through to those in need.”

Cooper called on all parties to respect US President Donald Trump’s peace plan to avoid further bloodshed.

Dozens of Palestinians were killed earlier in intensive Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, the most significant violation of the ceasefire agreement signed on October 9.

Four hospitals in Gaza confirmed the death toll of 45, saying they had received the dead and wounded. Meanwhile, Israel has decided to close all crossings into the Strip but later reversed its decision.

US President Donald Trump said that a ceasefire in Gaza was still holding after Israel carried out deadly strikes on the territory over alleged truce violations by Hamas.

The dozens of strikes Israel carried out on Hamas positions in southern Gaza Sunday came after it accused the militant group of targeting its troops in “a blatant violation” of the nine-day-old truce.

Asked by reporters whether the truce was still in effect, Trump said: “Yeah, it is”. The US president, who helped broker the deal, also suggested that Hamas leadership was not involved in any alleged breaches, instead blaming “some rebels within”.

“We want to make sure that it’s going to be very peaceful with Hamas,” Trump said. “It’s going to be handled toughly, but properly.”

Gaza’s civil defence agency, which operates under Hamas authority, said the strikes killed at least 45 people across the territory.

Israel’s military said it was looking into the reports of casualties.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas.

Israel repeatedly cut off aid to Gaza during the war, exacerbating dire humanitarian conditions, with the United Nations saying it caused a famine there.

Later, two of the United States’ top envoys to the Middle East met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday after weekend violence threatened to wreck a fragile US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza.

The sit-down came as Israel reopened the Kerem Shalom border crossing into Gaza for aid shipments, a security official and a humanitarian source said, after the entry point was closed briefly on Sunday following the killing of two Israeli soldiers.

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Netanyahu on Monday to discuss “developments and updates in the region”, Shosh Bedrosian, spokeswoman for the prime minister’s office, told journalists.

A US embassy spokesperson had earlier confirmed to AFP that the pair had arrived in Israel for further talks on Trump’s Gaza peace plan. AFP