US has Gaza peace plan and hopes for breakthrough soon, says envoy

By Michelle Nichols, John Irish and Nidal al-Mughrabi

NEW YORK/CAIRO (Reuters) -The United States shared a 21-point Middle East peace plan at this week's U.N. meetings and is hopeful for a breakthrough on Gaza in the coming days, its envoy to the region said on Wednesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump presented proposals to leaders from several Muslim-majority countries - including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt - during a meeting held on the sidelines of the annual General Assembly on Monday, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said.

"I think it addresses Israeli concerns and, as well, the concerns of all the neighbors in the region," he said on Wednesday.

"We're hopeful, and I might say even confident that in the coming days we'll be able to announce some sort of breakthrough," he added.

Israel has drawn global condemnation over its war in Gaza, which is nearing the two-year mark with no ceasefire in sight. The conflict has caused major destruction and killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities.

A global hunger monitor says part of the territory is suffering from famine.

The current war began when Hamas stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. About 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive, are still being held.

The White House remains a staunch ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is scheduled to address the General Assembly in New York on Friday during a U.S. trip that also includes a meeting with Trump.

Both leaders have condemned the recognition of a Palestinian state by Western powers such as France and Britain over the last few days.

Israel has meanwhile pressed on with its military campaign on Gaza City, despite repeated calls for it to pull back.

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

In parallel to Trump's plan, several European powers and Arab states have also been working on an initiative for what happens after the war in Gaza ends, including creating a stabilization force made up of European and Muslim countries.

They met on Tuesday after Trump had held his meeting.

European diplomats hope that their work and a declaration endorsed by the General Assembly to support the deployment of a temporary international stabilization mission can converge with U.S. plans.

MANY REMAIN IN GAZA CITY AMID SECURITY CONCERNS

But as diplomatic efforts continue to falter, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have left Gaza City in the northern part of the territory, while others have hesitated because of security risks and widespread hunger.

"We moved to the western area near the beach, but many families didn't have the time. Tanks took them by surprise," said Thaer, a 35-year-old father of one from Tel Al-Hawa, a suburb of Gaza City.

Israeli forces began closing in on the city of more than a million in August, with Israel saying it aimed to destroy the last stronghold of Hamas militants.

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 50 people across Gaza on Wednesday, medics said, most of them in Gaza City when a strike hit a shelter for displaced families near a market. Two more died in a nearby house, they said.

The Israeli military said the strike had targeted two Hamas militants and that its forces tried to reduce harm to civilians.

Video obtained by Reuters showed people sifting through the rubble.

"We were sleeping in God's care. There was nothing - they did not inform us, or not even give us a sign. It was a surprise," said Sami Hajjaj. "There are children and women, around 200 people maybe, six to seven families -- this square is full of families."

In Tel Al-Hawa, tanks entered populated areas trapping people in their homes, while more tanks were stationed close to Al-Quds Hospital, witnesses said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said an oxygen station had been damaged.

Tanks have also advanced closer to Gaza's largest hospital, Al Shifa, witnesses and Hamas media said. The Israeli military said the group's militants had opened fire from within the hospital compound, which Hamas denied.

"We fear these lies may be a prelude to another raid on the hospital," said Ismail Al-Thawabta, the director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, in reference to several previous raids by Israeli forces.

Israel's military released grainy aerial footage, which appeared to show gunfire coming from two windows. The military did not immediately respond to Reuters queries about how it established it was Hamas militants who had opened fire and at whom.

A Hamas security official said "criminal gangs" had opened fire at the hospital from outside the complex.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the conflicting accounts.

Separately, Israeli troops killed one Palestinian in a raid in Anza village outside Jenin and an Israeli settler shot another in al-Mughayyir village northeast of Ramallah over the past 24 hours, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

Violence in the West Bank has intensified during the Gaza war, as Israel has stepped up raids across the territory. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the incidents.

In southern Gaza, at least 13 people were killed in Nuseirat and near Rafah, medics said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which says its attacks are aimed at ending Hamas rule of the enclave.

(Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Writing by Costas Pitas and May Angel; Editing by Gareth Jones, Cynthia Osterman and Lisa Shumaker)