Israeli strikes kill 14 in Gaza and destroy the heavy equipment necessary to clean the rubble

Deir al -Balah, Gaza Strip (AP) – Israeli Strikes On the Gaza Strip killed at least 17 Palestinians, mainly women and children, and destroys bulldozers and other heavy equipment that had been provided by mediators to erase the rubble. Separate strikes killed two people in Lebanon.

Also on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump spoke by phone, two weeks after the two in Washington. Trump wrote on his social networking site Truth Social that the two talked about trade and Iran, among others. “The call went very well-we are on the same side of each issue,” he wrote.

Netanyahu’s office had no immediate comments, but his haste to Washington was not considered a resulting success After seeming not to obtain the support he wanted from Trump on issues such as preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, reducing Trump’s prices, Turkey’s influence and war in Gaza.

18 -month offensive from Israel against Hamas has destroyed large areas of Gazaraise fears that A large part may never be rebuilt. The territory already had a shortage of heavy equipment, which is also necessary to save people from the rubble after the Israeli strikes and to eliminate vital roads.

The Israeli army said it had hit and destroy about 40 pieces of heavy machines. Israel said Hamas used vehicles, including bulldozers, for explosive planting, dug tunnels and fences that break, including during the October 7, 2023 attack.

A municipality in the Jabaliya region, in northern Gaza, said that a strike in its car park had destroyed nine bulldozers provided by Egypt and Qatar, which helped negotiate the ceasefire that settled in January. Israel ended the truce last monthrenew its bombings and land operations and seal the 2 million Palestinians in the territory of all imports, including food, fuel and medical supplies.

The strikes also destroyed an oil tanker and a mobile generator provided by aid groups, and a truck used to pump wastewater, said the municipality of Jabaliya al-Nazla.

Israeli strikes kill 17, mainly children

An Israeli air strike destroyed a house on Tuesday in the southern city of Khan Younis, killing nine people, including four women and four children, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. The dead included a 2 -year -old girl and her parents.

“They were sleeping, slept in the peace of God. They had nothing to do with anything,” said Awad Dahliz, the grandfather of the killed girl. “What’s the fault of this innocent child?”

Also on Tuesday, a strike in the Jabaliya Building refugee camp killed three children and their parents, and a strike in Nuseirat killed a man and two children, according to the emergency service of the Gaza Ministry of Health and local hospitals.

The Israeli army has not made immediate comments on strikes, but accused Hamas of using civil infrastructure for militant purposes.

The air and terrestrial war of Israel killed more than 51,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, according to the ministry, who does not say how many deaths were civilians or combatants. Israel says he killed around 20,000 activists, without providing evidence.

The war began when activists led by Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians and taking 251 people hostage. They still have 59 hostages, 24 of which are considered alive, after most of the others have been released in ceasefire agreements or other agreements.

Hamas said that it would only release the remaining hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners, a complete Israeli withdrawal and a lasting ceasefire. Israel said that he would continue to fight until the hostages have returned and that Hamas had been destroyed or disarmed and sent in exile. He is committed to keeping Safety areas in Gaza indefinitely.

Islamist killed in Lebanon

A strike of Israeli drones southeast of Beirut killed Hussein Atwi, member of the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist political movement on a regional scale. The group said he was leaving to work when the drone hit.

The Lebanon Ministry of Health said that another person had been killed in an Israeli strike in the southern tire province, without providing more details. Israel said his air army had made a strike near Tire and targeted a militant commander.

Israel continued to carry out regular strikes across Lebanon despite a ceasefire with the Hezbollah militant group in November. Israel says that it aims for activists and weapons covers. The Lebanese government says 190 people were killed and 485 injured since the ceasefire settled.

Hezbollah began to shoot Israel the day after the October 7 attack in Hamas. Israel responded with air strikes, and the conflict in Lebanon transformed into a full -fledged war in September, when Israel made a strong wave of strikes and killed most of the main leaders in Hezbollah.

Palestinian activists arrested in Syria

The Palestinian group of Islamic jihad said that two of its senior members had been arrested in Syria “without any explanation”. The Syrian government has not commented.

Islamic jihad, a small militant group allied in Hamas and also supported by Iran, had an established presence in Syria during the reign of former President Bashar Assad. He sent fighters to Lebanon to support Hezbollah during the war with Israel.

The arrests occurred a few days after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visited Damascus and met Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa. It was Abbas’ first visit to Syria since before the 2011 uprising and the civil war that finally led to the reversal of Assad last year.

Abbas directs the Palestinian authority supported by the West, dominated by the political rivals of Hamas.

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Magdy reported to Cairo. The writer Associated Press Sally Abou Aljou in Beirut contributed.

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