Israel continued to ramp up attacks on Gaza on Tuesday morning, killing at least 19 Palestinians, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump met to discuss countries that could take in Palestinians as part of a forced expulsion plan.
The attacks on Gaza come just a day after Israeli forces killed at least 60 Palestinians in attacks across the enclave, including a tent of journalists stationed near a hospital.
Palestinian journalists said early on Tuesday that one of the journalists targeted in the attack, Ahmad Mansour, succumbed to his severe wounds this morning due to a lack of equipment and medical supplies in Gaza’s hospitals.
Images that have circulated widely online show Mansour sitting down, engulfed in flames. Video footage also shows people surrounding him and throwing water at the Palestine Today journalist from a distance, in an attempt to put out the fire.
The increased attacks come as the Palestine Red Crescent Society has called for an independent investigation into Israel’s killing of at least 15 medical staff in Rafah. Other groups, including Physicians for Human Rights and BOND, a network of British NGOs, joined in their calls for accountability.
The UN announced that 400,000 of Gaza’s residents have now been displaced since Israel violated the ceasefire deal on 18 March.
Gaza’s health ministry also raised concerns that the enclave is on the brink of a “health disaster” due to Israel’s blockade, which has put at least 602,000 children at risk of permanent paralysis due to their refusal to allow polio vaccines in.
Trump and Netanyahu meet
Meanwhile, Trump and Netanyahu met to discuss countries that could take forcibly displaced Palestinians from Gaza.
During the meeting on Monday, Trump reiterated that he would like the US to take over and control Gaza, adding, “controlling and owning Gaza would be a good thing”.
“I don’t understand why Israel ever gave up Gaza,” he further stated.
Following the meeting, Netanyahu said: “We’re working now on another deal, that we hope will succeed,” he said, referring to an agreement that would free the remaining captives.
The meeting has been slammed by many, including Senator Chris Van Hollen, who wrote on X: “Let’s be clear: nothing about this is voluntary – it would mean the coerced deportation of 2 million people from Haza and US taxpayers should have nothing to do with it”.
On Monday, reports stated that Israel has already started its plan to forcibly remove Palestinians from Gaza, with deportation flights commencing from Ramon Airport, Israel’s interior minister, Moshe Arbel, said.
Arbel announced that more than 16 flights carrying Palestinians from Gaza had departed from Ramon Airport, in what appears to be a state-backed effort to forcibly remove Palestinian residents from the besieged enclave under the guise of “voluntary migration”.
“I can say that this will likely increase in the coming period,” the minister added.
He did not, however, specify the aircraft’s size or capacity, the number of passengers from the Gaza Strip, or their destination.
