 "US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman shake hands during a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2025. File Image/Reuters")
President Donald Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for the first leg of his Middle East tour, focusing on economic partnerships and regional diplomacy. His visit comes a day after Hamas released Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old Israeli-American soldier and the last known living U.S. hostage held in Gaza. Alexander was handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Khan Younis and has since returned to Israel.
Amid these developments, at least 48 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed in overnight Israeli air strikes on northern Gaza, according to a hospital in the area, as international concern over the humanitarian crisis in the territory continues to grow.
The Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza reported that the casualties included 22 children and 15 women, after homes in Jabalia town and its nearby refugee camp were struck. A video circulating online appeared to show the bodies of at least a dozen people laid out on the hospital floor, BBC reported.
The Israel Defense Forces said it was reviewing the reports. The strikes came hours after the military issued evacuation warnings to residents in Jabalia and surrounding areas following rocket fire into Israel by a Palestinian armed group.
UN official urges action on Gaza
At the United Nations Security Council meeting in New York on Tuesday, the UN’s humanitarian affairs chief, Tom Fletcher, called for urgent international intervention to “prevent genocide” in Gaza. He accused Israel of deliberately imposing “inhumane conditions” on the civilian population and urged an end to Israel’s 10-week blockade of the enclave.
Fletcher also criticized a proposed Israeli-US plan to assume control over humanitarian aid distribution in the territory, warning it would worsen the already dire conditions faced by civilians.
Responding at the same meeting, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, claimed that foreign aid entering Gaza was being diverted to support Hamas’s military operations.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsCeasefire talks and ongoing strikes
Amid the rising death toll, US Special Envoys Steve Witkoff and Adam Boehler announced plans to travel to Qatar to resume negotiations on a potential ceasefire and hostage exchange deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that the military offensive will intensify unless Hamas agrees to release the 58 hostages it still holds.
On Tuesday, a separate Israeli strike on the compound of the European Hospital in southern Gaza killed at least 28 people, according to local officials. Israeli media reported that the intended target was Mohammed Sinwar, believed to have assumed leadership of Hamas in Gaza after his brother Yahya Sinwar was killed last year.
The Israeli military said the hospital compound was the site of a Hamas command center and described the operation as a “precise strike on Hamas terrorists.”
Death toll continues to rise
Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza following Hamas’s surprise cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities.
Since then, at least 52,908 people have been killed in Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry.
With inputs from agencies