By TIA GOLDENBERG, FATMA KHALED and WAFAA SHURAFA, Associated Press
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Five Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack in Gaza, the Israeli military said Tuesday, while health officials in the Palestinian territory said 18 people were killed in Israeli strikes.
The bloodshed came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was visiting the White House for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump about a ceasefire plan to pause the Gaza fighting. While there was no announcement of a breakthrough, there were signs of progress toward a deal.
The killings of the soldiers could add to the pressure on Netanyahu to strike a deal in Israel, where polls have shown widespread support for ending the war.
Soldiers attacked with explosive devices
An Israeli security official said explosive devices were detonated against the soldiers during an operation in the Beit Hanoun area in northern Gaza, which was an early target of the war and an area where Israel has repeatedly fought those regrouping.
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Combatants also opened fire on the forces who were evacuating the wounded soldiers, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the incident with the media.
The military said 14 soldiers were wounded in the attack, two of them seriously. It brings the toll of soldiers killed to 888 since the war against Hamas began in 2023.
Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for Hamas’ armed wing, said on Telegram that its fighters’ operation in Beit Hanoun was an “additional blow” against what he described as a “weak” army in an area he said the Israeli military thought was safe. He added that “the most foolish decision Netanyahu could make would be to keep his forces inside the Gaza Strip.”
The soldiers were killed roughly two weeks after Israel reported one of its deadliest days in months in Gaza, when seven soldiers were killed after a Palestinian attacker attached a bomb to their armored vehicle.
In a statement, Netanyahu sent his condolences for the deaths, saying the soldiers fell “in a campaign to defeat Hamas and to free all of our hostages.”
Israeli strikes in southern and central Gaza
Health officials at the Nasser Hospital, where victims of the Israeli strikes were taken, said one of the strikes targeted tents sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing four people. A separate strike in Khan Younis killed four people, including a mother, father, and their two children, officials said.
In central Gaza, Israeli strikes hit a group of people, killing 10 people and injuring 72 others, according to a statement by Awda Hospital in Nuseirat.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes, but it blames Hamas for any harm to civilians, saying the militant group operates out of populated areas.
The fighting has pushed the health care system in Gaza close to collapse. On Tuesday, the Palestine Red Crescent said the Al-Zaytoun Medical Clinic in Gaza City ceased operations after shelling in the surrounding area. It said the closure would force thousands of civilians to walk long distances to get medical care or obtain vaccinations for children.
Hopes for a ceasefire agreement soon
Trump has made clear that, following last month’s 12-day war between Israel and Iran, he would like to see the 21-month Gaza conflict end soon. Netanyahu’s visit to Washington may give new urgency to the ceasefire proposal.
White House officials are urging both sides to quickly seal an agreement that would bring about a 60-day pause in the fighting, send aid flooding into Gaza and free at least some of the remaining 50 hostages held in the territory, 20 of whom are believed to be living.
A senior Israeli official said that 80-90% of the details had been ironed out and that a final agreement could be days away. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the sensitive negotiations with the media.
A sticking point has been whether the ceasefire will end the war altogether. Hamas has said it is willing to free all the hostages in exchange for an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu says the war will end once Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile — something it refuses to do.
The war began when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Most have been released in earlier ceasefires. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas government, does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. The U.N. and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
Khaled reported from Cairo and Shurafa from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip.
