Edinburgh: Israeli strikes killed at least 34 Palestinians before US President Donald Trump met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday in Scotland, where they confirmed plans to discuss Gaza.
A day after Israel eased aid restrictions due to a worsening humanitarian crisis, Trump said he disagreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement that there was no starvation in Gaza.
Israel on Sunday announced a pause in military operations in certain areas for 10 hours daily to improve aid flow. Alongside the measures, military operations continued. Israel had no immediate comment about the latest strikes, which occurred outside the declared time frame for the pause between 10 am and 8 pm.
Aid agencies welcomed the new measures but say they are insufficient. Images of emaciated children have sparked global outrage. Most of Gaza’s population now relies on aid and accessing food has become increasingly dangerous.
Here is the latest:
Planes from Jordan and UAE airdrop humanitarian aid into Gaza
Two planes from the Jordanian and UAE Air Force airdropped 17 tons of humanitarian aid in Gaza on Monday, Jordan’s military said. The aid packages come as hunger continues to soar across the strip.
The airdrops took place for the second day as Israel faces increasing pressure over Gaza’s humanitarian crisis. However, Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, warned that airdrops are “expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians.”
The 17 tons of airdropped aid amounts to less than one aid truck carrying food, based on the World Food Programme’s calculation of nearly 19 tons per truck.
On Sunday, 180 trucks carrying aid entered Gaza, according to the Israeli military body in charge of overseeing humanitarian aid.
Israeli settlers torch cars in Christian West Bank village, Palestinians say
Palestinian residents of the Christian village of Taybeh in the Israeli-occupied West Bank say Israeli settlers torched two cars and left graffiti overnight.
It was the latest in a series of recent settler attacks on the village near Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority is headquartered. Taybeh is the only entirely Christian village in the Muslim-majority West Bank and home to a brewery popular with tourists and foreign diplomats.
The Israeli military said it sent forces to the village after receiving a report that suspects had set fire to Palestinian property. It said it has opened an investigation.
The West Bank has seen a rise in settler violence since Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023, attack out of Gaza triggered the war there.
UK leader to discuss Gaza peace plan with Trump
Starmer plans to discuss a UK-led peace plan for Gaza with Trump Monday in Scotland.
Starmer’s spokesman, Dave Pares, said Britain supports Trump’s efforts to reach a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, and the plan aims “to turn a ceasefire into lasting peace.”
The plan was discussed by Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday. Starmer will discuss it with allies “including the US and Arab states” and at an emergency meeting of his Cabinet later this week, Pares said.
Details of the plan have not been made public.
Starmer is under growing pressure to follow France in recognizing a Palestinian state, a move both Israel and the U.S. have condemned. The British leader says the UK supports statehood for the Palestinians but it must be part of a wider plan for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Pares said “it’s a matter of when, not if” Britain recognizes Palestinian statehood. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy is attending a conference on a two-state solution at the United Nations in New York this week.
Trump disagrees with Netanyahu’s claim there is no starvation in Gaza’
Asked if he agreed with Netanyahu’s remarks about hunger in Gaza, Trump said, “I don’t know. I mean, based on television, I would say not particularly because those children look very hungry.”
Starmer, standing next to Trump, said, “We’ve got to get that ceasefire,” in Gaza and called it “a desperate situation.”
Trump confirmed he and Starmer would talk about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Egypt president calls on Trump to assist in ending Gaza war
Egypt’s leader on Monday called on Trump to help stop the war in Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to the strip’s desperate population.
In a televised speech, President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said the American leader is “the one who is able to stop the war, deliver the aid and end this suffering.”
“Please, make every effort to stop this war and deliver the aid,” el-Sissi said, addressing Trump. “I believe that it’s time to end this war.”
He described conditions inside Gaza as “tragic” and “intolerable.”
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