(Gaza) Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu promised on Thursday to bring back “all” the hostages, “without exception”, still retained in the devastated Palestinian territory, where the civil defense of Gaza reported the death of 73 people in Israeli military operations.
The Israeli leader spoke from the Kibbutz of Nir Oz, who paid a heavy price to attack the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023, at the origin of the war.
His visit, the first on site, comes before his meeting scheduled for next week in Washington with the American president, Donald Trump, who pressed for a stopping hostilities in Gaza and was prevailed by an Israeli agreement to finalize the terms of a 60 -day truce.
“I am deeply committed above all to guarantee the return of all our hostages, all, without exception,” said Mr. Netanyahu.
“They lived hell”
“I especially want the inhabitants of Gaza to be safe. They lived in hell, “Donald Trump told journalists on Thursday.
He responded to journalists who asked him if he still wanted the United States to take control of the Palestinian territory, as he announced in February.
Hamas said it said to study “proposals” for a truce. According to a Palestinian source, it is accompanied by the release of half of the still alive hostages, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Photo Dawoud both cravings, Reuters
Palestinians inspect the damage caused to a school housing displaced people, following an Israeli aerial strike in the city of Gaza on July 3, 2025.
Of the 251 people kidnapped on October 7 on Israeli soil, 49 are still retained in Gaza, including 27 declared dead by the Israeli army.
The Civil Defense of Gaza said to AFP that a nocturnal air strike on the Moustafa Hafez school in the city of Gaza (North), which housed inappropriate, had left 15 dead, including “a majority of children and women”.
Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army said it had targeted a “leading” Hamas fighter and took “many measures to reduce the risk of touching civilians”.
Photo Dawoud both cravings, Reuters
An injured boy looks at Palestinians inspecting the damage to a school housing inappropriate people, following an Israeli aerial strike in the city of Gaza on July 3, 2025.
“Militarized system”
According to Mahmoud Bassal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense, a first aid organization, 38 people were also killed by Israeli fire while they were waiting to receive humanitarian aid on various sites.
The aid distribution mechanism has been denounced by the International Humanitarian Community since its control, at the end of May, by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an organization supported by the United States and Israel with which the UN refuses to collaborate.
International Amnesty has castigated a “militarized system” through which “Israel continues to use civilians from civilians as a weapon of war against the Palestinians”.
The civil defense, through the voice of Mahmoud Bassal, also accused the army of preventing it from accessing several districts of the city of Gaza, where dozens of people are trapped under the rubble.
“We systematically and in depth the terrorist infrastructure, while maintaining a stable grip on the ground,” said the spokesperson for the Israeli army, Effie Defrin, evoking “high intensity” operations in districts of the east of the city of Gaza.
PHOTO JEHAD ALSHRAFI, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Palestinian children observe the damage caused to a school used as shelter after being struck by an Israeli air strike in the city of Gaza on July 3, 2025.
Given the restrictions imposed on the media by Israel, which besieged the Gaza Strip, and difficulties of access to the field, AFP is not able to independently check the affirmations of the organizations operating on the Palestinian territory.
“Our children will suffer”
In Israel, the political class continues to divide between the supporters of a truce allowing the release of hostages and those of a continuation of the fights as long as Hamas is not annihilated.
“If we cannot make Hamas disappear, our children will suffer!” “, Estimated in an interview with the chain 14, the far -right minister of national security, Itamar Ben Gvir.
Relatives of hostages still retained in Gaza sent a letter to Benyamin Netanyahu exhorting him to “sign an agreement guaranteeing the return of all hostages” and to put an end to war.
The indirect negotiations for a truce and the release of the hostages selected in Gaza have until they stumbled mainly on the requirement posed by the Hamas of a permanent ceasefire.
Photo Dawoud both cravings, Reuters
A young Palestinian observes the damage caused to a school housing displaced people, following an Israeli aerial strike night in the city of Gaza, on July 3, 2025.
Mr. Netanyahu swore on Wednesday to eliminate “to the root” Hamas, reaffirming the goal displayed by Israel to eradicate the Palestinian movement.
The attack on October 7 led to the Israeli side the death of 1219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count made from official data.
More than 57,130 Palestinians, mainly civilians, were killed in the Israeli military reprisal campaign, according to data from the Ministry of Health of the Government of Hamas for Gaza, deemed reliable by the UN.
