People carrying aid parcels, walk along the Salah al-Din road near the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
Trump sees “progress” on Gaza, raising hopes for ceasefire
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that progress was being made to end the war on Gaza, as a new ceasefire push began more than 20 months since Oct. 7.
"I think great progress is being made on Gaza," Trump told reporters, adding that his special envoy Steve Witkoff had told him: "Gaza is very close."
He linked his optimism about imminent "very good news" to a ceasefire agreed on Tuesday between “Israel” and Hamas's backer Iran to end their 12-day war.
“Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces growing calls from opposition politicians, relatives of captives being held in Gaza and even members of his ruling coalition to bring an end to the fighting.
Key mediator Qatar announced Tuesday that it would launch a new push for a ceasefire, with Hamas on Wednesday saying talks had stepped up.
"Our communications with the brother mediators in Egypt and Qatar have not stopped and have intensified in recent hours," Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP.
He cautioned, however, that the group had "not yet received any new proposals" to end the war.
The “Israeli” government declined to comment on any new ceasefire talks beyond saying that efforts to return “Israeli” captives in Gaza were ongoing "on the battlefield and via negotiations".
In one of the war's deadliest incidents for the “Israeli” army, it said seven of its soldiers were killed on Tuesday in southern Gaza, taking its overall losses in the territory to 441.
The latest losses led to rare criticism of the war effort by the leader of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, a partner in Netanyahu's coalition government.
"I still don't understand why we are fighting there... Soldiers are getting killed all the time," lawmaker Moshe Gafni told a hearing in the “Israeli” parliament on Wednesday.
The slain soldiers were from the “Israeli” combat engineering corps and were conducting a reconnaissance mission in the Khan Yunis area when their vehicle was targeted with an explosive device, according to a military statement.
