60 more killed in Gaza

Israeli strikes killed at least 60 people in Gaza yesterday as Tel Aviv warned of annihilating Hamas if it does not accept a hostage deal in Gaza.

It came amid dire conditions on the ground, with the United Nations warning that Gaza's entire population was at risk of famine.

Amid the bloodshed, US President Donald Trump announced that a ceasefire agreement was "very close".

Defence Minister Israel Katz said Hamas must agree to a ceasefire proposal presented by US envoy Steve Witkoff or be destroyed, after the Palestinian group said the deal failed to satisfy its demands.

"The Hamas murderers will now be forced to choose: accept the terms of the 'Witkoff Deal' for the release of the hostages -- or be annihilated."

Negotiations to end nearly 20 months of war in Gaza have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough, with Israel resuming operations in March following a short-lived truce.

In the United States, Trump told reporters "they're very close to an agreement on Gaza", adding: "We'll let you know about it during the day or maybe tomorrow."

Food shortages in Gaza persist, with aid only trickling in after the partial lifting by Israel of a more than two-month blockade.

Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency, called Gaza "the hungriest place on Earth".

"It's the only defined area -- a country or defined territory within a country -- where you have the entire population at risk of famine," he said.

Later, the UN condemned the "looting of large quantities of medical equipment" and other supplies "intended for malnourished children" from one of its Gaza warehouses by armed individuals.

Aid groups have warned that desperation for food and medicine among Gazans was causing security to deteriorate.

Israel has doubled down on its settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, while defying calls from French President Emmanuel Macron and other world leaders for a two-state solution.

This week Israel announced the creation of 22 new settlements in the Palestinian territory, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

London said the move was a "deliberate obstacle" to Palestinian statehood while Egypt called it "a provocative and blatant new violation of international law and Palestinian rights".

The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which includes Egypt, also condemned Israel's decision.

On Friday, Katz vowed to build a "Jewish Israeli state" in the West Bank.

Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory are considered illegal under international law and seen as a major obstacle to a lasting peace in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Katz framed the move as a direct rebuke to Macron and others pushing for recognition of a Palestinian state.

Macron on Friday said that recognition of a Palestinian state, with some conditions, was "not only a moral duty, but a political necessity".

Israel's foreign ministry accused the French president of undertaking a "crusade against the Jewish state".

On Friday, Gaza's civil defence agency told AFP that at least 45 people had been killed in Israeli attacks, including seven in a strike targeting a family home in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.

The latest casualties bring Gaza's total death toll during the war to 54,381, it said, with 124,054 others wounded.