 "Trump says Israel must decide on Gaza strategy as talks stall")
US President Donald Trump on Sunday said it was up to Israel to determine its next course of action in Gaza, following its recent withdrawal from ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations with Hamas.
Trump acknowledged uncertainty around the future of the conflict, saying he was unsure what would come next. He also stressed the urgency of securing the release of hostages still being held by Hamas, noting that Israel appeared to have taken a firmer stance on the matter recently.
”They don’t want to give them back, and so Israel is going to have to make a decision,” Trump told reporters at the start of a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his golf property in Turnberry, Scotland.
Meanwhile, two Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in southern Gaza on Sunday, the military said, a day after confirming another soldier had died of wounds sustained last week.
“We have lost three young heroes – some of our finest – who gave their lives for the security of our state and the return of all our hostages,” Defence Minister Israel Katz said on X.
The two soldiers, aged 20 and 22, served in the Golani Infantry Brigade’s 51st Battalion.
Israeli military sources said they were killed when their armoured vehicle exploded in the city of Khan Yunis.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsMilitary correspondents from several Israeli media outlets said the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device detonated by a militant who emerged from a tunnel.
An investigation was underway.
In a separate incident on Sunday, an officer and a reservist were severely wounded in combat in the southern Gaza Strip, the military said.
According to an AFP toll based on data from the Israeli army, 462 soldiers have been killed since the start of its ground offensive in Gaza on October 27, 2023.
Israel launched its Gaza military campaign after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
The Israeli campaign has killed 59,821 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
With inputs from agencies
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