VOICES FROM GAZA
Israeli strikes continued in the Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least four people in Khan Younis, according to the Hamas-run civil defence agency.
Families of Israeli hostages urged Trump to hold firm. “We respectfully ask you to stand firm against any attempts to sabotage the deal you have brought forth,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in an open letter.
In Gaza, residents expressed a mix of hope and scepticism.
“I don’t expect anything from Trump, because Trump supports Netanyahu in destroying the Gaza Strip and displacing people to carry out the Riviera project,” said Mohammed Abu Rabee, 34, referring to Trump’s earlier proposal to transform the territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
The outcome may depend on how much pressure Trump applies, said Natan Sachs, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.
“Netanyahu has a clear preference for continuing the war and defeating Hamas, but I don’t think it’s impossible for Trump to convince him otherwise,” he told AFP.
The war was triggered by Hamas’s Oct 7, 2023 attack that killed 1,219 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to official figures. Israel’s response has killed 66,055 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza, figures the United Nations deems reliable.
