Israeli forces kill 82 in Gaza

al Jazeera:

Israeli forces kill 82 in Gaza; Trump says ceasefire could happen this week

US president says a Gaza ceasefire deal with Israel could occur this week as truce talks resume in Qatar and Netanyahu flies to Washington, DC.

Published On 6 Jul 20256 Jul 2025

Israeli forces have killed at least 82 people across Gaza, including 39 in Gaza City alone, as United States President Donald Trump said he believed a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas could happen this week.

Survivors of the Israeli strikes in Gaza City described “apocalyptic” scenes on Sunday as residents in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood retrieved body parts of victims and scrambled to rescue those trapped under the rubble.

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Mahmoud al-Sheikh Salama, a survivor of one strike in Gaza City, said the attack took place at 2am (23:00 GMT on Saturday) while he was sleeping.

“We heard a loud explosion and shortly after, another one. We rushed over… and people were trapped under the rubble – four families, a large number of residents,” he told Al Jazeera.

“We tried to search for survivors and managed to pull out two people alive from under the debris after about three hours of struggle and breaking through. We got two out alive – the rest were martyred and are still trapped.”

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said Israel’s current military escalation is “a chilling and brutal reminder” of the opening weeks of the war because of the intensity and scale of each attack.

“In the span of two hours, we have counted at least seven air strikes across the Gaza Strip,” he said.

“A local community kitchen in the northern part of Deir el-Balah was also struck and three people were killed, including the main operator behind it.”

Attacks near aid sites

Besides Gaza City, medical sources at hospitals told Al Jazeera that at least nine Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire since the morning near aid distribution centres operated by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

Five were killed near the Netzarim Corridor, located just south of Gaza City, which splits the Strip down the middle. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said Israeli forces killed at least 743 Palestinians in attacks at sites run by the GHF since late May.

The GHF has drawn widespread criticism, with multiple reports that its contractors, as well as Israeli forces, have opened fire on desperate aid seekers. Two American contractors were wounded with non-life-threatening injuries on Saturday during an attack on an aid site.

“The attack – which preliminary information indicates was carried out by two assailants who threw two grenades at the Americans – occurred at the conclusion of an otherwise successful distribution in which thousands of Gazans safely received food,” the GHF said.

The US on Saturday blamed Hamas for the attack. Gaza’s Government Media Office rejected these accusations.

“We categorically and unequivocally reject the claims issued by the US State Department alleging that the Palestinian resistance threw explosives at American personnel operating at sites run by the so-called ‘Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – GHF,'” the media office said in a statement.