Israel deepens Gaza City offensive as Netanyahu heads to US

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Steven Scheer

CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli forces advanced deeper into Gaza City on Thursday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu headed to New York to address the United Nations General Assembly, with U.S. President Donald Trump pursuing a deal to end the Gaza war.

Israeli strikes killed at least 19 people across the Palestinian enclave on Thursday, local health authorities said. They included 11 people from two families in Zawayda town in the central Gaza Strip, where planes hit a residential building.

Israel's military did not comment on the incident but said it had struck 170 targets across Gaza in the past 24 hours and attacked "terror infrastructure" used by militant groups to attack soldiers. Its forces were deep in Gaza City, it said.

U.S. ENVOY HOPES FOR A BREAKTHROUGH

Tanks have entered Gaza City as part of an offensive that Israel says is intended to eliminate Hamas following its deadly attack on Israel in October 2023 but which has caused extensive destruction, a humanitarian catastrophe and widespread hunger.

Netanyahu says Gaza City is the Palestinian militant group's last bastion, but hundreds of thousands of civilians remain there, fearing there is nowhere safe for them to go.

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said on Wednesday Washington was confident of securing breakthrough on Gaza in coming days after Trump shared a 21-point Middle East peace plan with leaders of Muslim-majority countries in New York.

Trump also promised Arab leaders he would not allow Israel to annex the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Politico reported. Palestinians want the West Bank for an independent Palestinian state, with Gaza and East Jerusalem.

Netanyahu has declared there will never be a Palestinian state although Britain, France, Canada and other nations this week formally recognised Palestinian statehood. Some of Netanyahu's coalition allies want Israel to annex the West Bank.

NETANYAHU SET TO ADDRESS UN AND MEET TRUMP

Israel has become diplomatically isolated over its military siege of Gaza, with European nations and others increasingly critical of its conduct.

The International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in the Gaza war. Israel rejects the court's jurisdiction and denies committing war crimes in Gaza.

Netanyahu has retained the backing of the U.S., Israel's most important ally, and Trump told the U.N. this week that moves to recognise a Palestinian state risked rewarding what he called Hamas atrocities and could encourage continued conflict.

Netanyahu is expected to address the General Assembly on Friday and meet Trump next week. Leaving Israel on Thursday, Netanyahu said he would denounce leaders who had recognised a Palestinian state.

He said he would discuss the war in Gaza with Trump, including defeating Hamas and freeing hostages held in Gaza since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. He said he also intended to discuss efforts to expand diplomatic relations with countries that do not officially recognise Israel.

ABOUT 20 HOSTAGES BELIEVED TO BE ALIVE

About 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage in the Hamas-led attack on Israel. About 48 hostages remain in captivity, with 20 of them believed to be alive.

Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities.

Hamas' armed wing has warned the Israeli military that an expansion of its operation in Gaza City would put Israeli hostages at risk, while Israel's military has called on Gazan residents to "rise and break away from Hamas" to end the war.

In Jordan, mother-of-five Afkar Alwan told Reuters her young son Yaman Alwan had been evacuated from Gaza last month for urgent medical care after severe malnutrition worsened his congenital kidney condition, and medical shortages growing.

"By God, the situation in Gaza is very tragic," she said. "There are no laboratories and the hospitals, of course...the situation there is deplorable."

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Steven Scheer in Jerusalem, Additional reporting by Alex Cornwell, Editing by Timothy Heritage)