Israeli airstrikes killed at least 27 people in the Gaza Strip, hospital officials said Friday, while Hamas was reviewing a new Israeli-approved ceasefire proposal after giving it an initial cool response.
President Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy had expressed optimism this week about brokering an agreement that could halt the Israel-Hamas war, allow more aid into Gaza, and return more of the 58 hostages still held by Hamas, around a third of whom are alive.
Experts say a nearly three-month Israeli blockade of Gaza — slightly eased in recent days — has pushed the population of roughly 2 million Palestinians to the brink of famine.
Israel’s war in Gaza has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. The war began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which left around 1,200 dead.
Israel says it struck weapons depots in Syria
The airstrikes late Friday targeted missile storage facilities on Syria’s Mediterranean coast that the Israeli military said “posed a threat to international and Israeli maritime freedom of navigation,” according to a brief statement.
State-run news agency SANA said the strikes in the Latakia area resulted in “material damage” but no casualties were reported.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes across Syria targeting military infrastructure since Syrian Islamist insurgents toppled the government of Bashar Assad late last year. Israeli forces have also captured a buffer zone along the Golan Heights.
Friday’s strike comes a day after the U.S. special envoy to Syria reopened the long-shuttered U.S. ambassador’s residence in Damascus — a sign of growing ties between Washington and the new Syrian government.
