US hosts talks on post-war Gaza as Israel calls Gaza City evacuation
‘inevitable’
[August 28, 2025]
By WAFAA SHURAFA, SAM METZ and SALLY ABOU ALJOUD
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli and U.S. officials met Wednesday in
Washington to discuss post-war Gaza, even as Israel's military called
the evacuation of Gaza City “inevitable” ahead of a new offensive and no
sign of a ceasefire was in sight.
The meeting took place amid mounting outrage over this week's double
Israeli strike on a southern Gaza hospital that killed journalists,
emergency responders and others. The toll from the attack on Nasser
Hospital rose to 22 after two more people died Wednesday, Gaza health
officials said.
The Israeli military, which has said it will investigate, offered no
immediate explanation for striking twice and no evidence for an
assertion that six of the dead were militants.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Israeli Foreign Minister
Gideon Saar at the State Department, with both countries saying they
discussed cooperation on Iran, ending the war in Gaza, the situations in
Lebanon and Syria, and next month’s session of the U.N. General
Assembly, at which the Israel-Hamas conflict is likely to be a hot
topic.
The State Department said Rubio reaffirmed America's “unwavering
commitment to Israel’s security.”
“The secretary and Foreign Minister Saar agreed that continued close
cooperation between their countries is vital to the security and
prosperity of the region,” the department said in statement.
A similar statement from the Israeli Embassy in Washington said they had
discussed “the different challenges and opportunities in the Middle
East,” including the potential nuclear threat from Iran, the war in Gaza
and the importance of “repelling anti-Israel initiatives in the
international arena.”
Neither man spoke as they posed for photos before their meeting and
neither responded to shouted questions from reporters about the killings
of Palestinian journalists in Gaza.
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News on Tuesday that President Donald
Trump would chair a separate meeting, which would feature “a very
comprehensive plan” for post-war Gaza.
He did not offer details about that meeting, which did not appear on
Trump’s public schedule for Wednesday. Witkoff also said the official
U.S. position was that hostages — Hamas’ main source of leverage —
should no longer be part of negotiations. He told Fox News the talks
should focus on issues such as Gaza’s future and how to define Hamas in
that context.
Israel prepares Gaza City for an evacuation
Aid groups warn that an expanded Israeli military offensive could worsen
the humanitarian crisis in the besieged territory, where most of the
over 2 million residents have been displaced, neighborhoods lie in ruins
and a famine has been declared in Gaza City.
The Israeli military on Wednesday told residents of Gaza City to prepare
to leave.
“The evacuation of Gaza City is inevitable,” spokesperson Avichay Adraee
wrote in Arabic on X. He said Israeli forces have surveyed vast empty
areas south of the city “to assist the evacuating residents as much as
possible.” He said the displaced would receive space for tents, and
infrastructure would be set up to distribute aid and water.
As a growing chorus of international leaders urges Israel to reconsider
its offensive and commit to talks, Pope Leo XIV called for Israel to
halt the “collective punishment” and forced displacement of Palestinians
in Gaza.
More than 80% of Gaza is designated as an Israeli military zone or
subject to displacement orders, the U.N. humanitarian agency said in
June.
Israel has pressed ahead with plans to mobilize tens of thousands of
reservists. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the military will
launch its offensive while simultaneously pursuing a ceasefire.
Hamas said last week that it accepted a ceasefire plan from Arab
mediators.
[to top of second column]
|
A displaced Palestinian man stands on a damaged balcony of a school
used as a shelter, in Gaza City, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. (AP
Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Qatar, which has rarely assigned blame through more than a year of
mediation, said Tuesday that Israel has yet to officially respond
and “does not want to reach an agreement." Last week, an official
from Qatar said the proposal under discussion was “almost identical”
to an earlier draft that Witkoff put forth and Israel accepted.
The deal said to be under discussion would include a 60-day truce,
the release of some of the 50 remaining hostages held by Hamas in
return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, a surge of
humanitarian aid into Gaza and a road map toward talks on a lasting
ceasefire.
Many in Netanyahu’s coalition oppose such a phased deal. Meanwhile,
protests have swelled in Israel as hostages' families and their
supporters press for a ceasefire. The government argues that a
widened offensive is the best way to bring them home and cripple
Hamas’ capacity to launch future attacks.
Hospitals report strikes near aid sites
At least 39 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded Wednesday
across the Gaza Strip, the majority of whom died in Israeli strikes
and gunfire, according to Gaza health officials.
In northern Gaza, officials from the area’s main hospital, Al-Shifa,
as well as two field hospitals, told the AP that some 20
Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and strikes, including
at least five people seeking aid near the Zikim crossing in
northwestern Gaza. U.N aid convoys that routinely enter the area
through the crossing are repeatedly overwhelmed by thieves and
desperate people seeking aid.
Mahmoud Balousha, 36, went to the crossing but returned Wednesday
with only lentils.
“It’s the same every day. We go to get some food for our families,
but looters climb onto the trucks to get the aid, and there is
little left for us to take back home,” Balousha told the AP through
text messages. “When chaos breaks out," Israeli troops "open fire
toward the crowd, and people scatter everywhere.”
The strikes Monday at Nasser Hospital killed 22 people, including
Mariam Dagga, a freelance visual journalist who worked for The
Associated Press and other publications. Her final photos show a
damaged stairwell moments before she died.
Israel's military did not immediately respond to questions about the
strikes. Its offensive has killed nearly 63,000 Palestinians during
the war, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which says around half
were women and children. The agency does not distinguish between
fighters and civilians in its count.
The ministry said Wednesday that 10 more people died of
malnutrition-related causes over the past 24 hours, bringing the
total number to 313 people during the war, including 119 children.
The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by
medical professionals. The U.N. and independent experts consider it
the most reliable source on war casualties. Israel disputes its
figures but has not provided its own.
Hamas-led militants abducted 251 people and killed around 1,200
people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered
the war. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or
other deals. Of the 50 remaining in Gaza, Israel believes around 20
are alive.
___
Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank, and Abou Aljoud from Beirut,
Lebanon. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv,
Israel, Nicole Winfield in Rome and Matthew Lee in Washington
contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
