A wedding celebration in Gaza is bombed by Israel
The Israeli military bombed a wedding in Gaza as Friday, December 19 as mediators held ceasefire talks in the United States.
The attack happened on a shelter in Gaza City. Six people were killed and many others wee injured in the bombing. According to report by Al Jazeera, Israeli tank shells struck the second floor of a school-turned-shelter while displaced Palestinian families were gathered there to attend a wedding.
The attack was the latest ceasefire violation by Israel since the US brokered agreement between Israel and Hamas came into effect in October 2025. The bombing comes at a time when US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and other senior US officials were set to begin talks in Miami, Florida, on how to reach the next phase of the Gaza agreement.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that the talks are taking place with representatives of Qatar, Turkiye, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, saying that he may join the negotiations later.
Rubio stressed that the US priority is completing the first phase of the truce deal by setting up a Palestinian technocratic committee to help govern Gaza, establishing the foreign-led “Board of Peace”, and deploying an international policing force to the territory.
“No one is arguing that the status quo is sustainable in the long term, nor desirable, and that’s why we have a sense of urgency about bringing phase one to its full completion,” the secretary told reporters during a press confrence.
He was confident that donors will contribute to the reconstruction effort and for all the humanitarian support in the long-term, building of phases two and phases three of the ceasefire agreement. Ealier, US media reported that Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty. will be part of the meeting in Miami.
According to Israeli media, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding a restricted security consultation to examine the second phase of the ceasefire and the future scenarios. “Israel could launch a new military campaign to disarm Hamas if Trump were to disengage from the Gaza process, while acknowledging that such a move was unlikely because the US president wants to preserve calm in the enclave,” an Israeli official was quoted as saying by the country’s public broadcaster.
This post was last modified on December 20, 2025 10:25 am