President Donald Trump was set to chair a meeting Wednesday about the future of Gaza, as Israel faced mounting global outcry over strikes on a hospital that killed 20 people, including journalists and medics.
Israeli and American officials will attend the discussions on the aftermath of the war, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said, even as the U.S. ally moves ahead with a new phase of a campaign that has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed the Palestinian enclave’s largest city into famine.
Pope Leo XIV added his voice to a growing chorus of pressure to end the war, while NBC News spoke to eyewitnesses who contradicted the Israeli military’s explanation for the attack on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza.
“It’s a very comprehensive plan we’re putting together,” Witkoff told Fox News late Tuesday, adding that it reflected Trump’s “humanitarian motives.” Hamas, Witkoff said, was “now signaling that they’re open to a settlement” to end the 22-month war. “We’re going to settle this one way or another, certainly before the end of this year,” he added.
Israel has not publicly responded to the latest ceasefire proposal, which the militant group agreed to last week.
Five journalists were among those killed in Monday’s “double tap” strikes, which was caught on video by the Arabic-language channel Al Ghad TV, whose correspondent Ibrahim al Qanan was live on TV when the second strike hit. He said timestamps on the video showed that there was 7 minutes between the explosions.
Responders, including journalists and rescue workers, waited a few minutes after the first hit before they raced up the stairs only to be caught in the second blast, he added.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on X that an initial inquiry found that troops had identified a camera at the hospital that was being used to observe its troops “in order to direct terrorist activities against them.” It added that “troops operated to remove the threat by striking and dismantling the camera.”
The statement, which did provide evidence to substantiate the claims nor did it address the second strike on the facility, added that an investigation had been ordered into “several gaps,” including the “authorization process” before the attack, including for the ammunition used and the timing.
But according to five journalists on the ground there was only one camera on the hospital’s roof. The Reuters news agency said it had been running a live feed from the site for the last 18 months. A senior Hamas official claimed it did not have a camera in the area.
Among the dead were Mariam Dagga, 33, a visual journalist, who freelanced for The Associated Press and other news outlets during the war. Al Jazeera confirmed that one of its journalists, Mohammed Salama, was also among the dead, while Reuters reported that a contractor cameraman, Hussam al-Masri, and Moaz Abu Taha, a freelancer who worked occasionally for the organization, died in the Israeli bombing. Ahmad Abu Aziz, who Middle East Eye said worked as a freelancer, was also killed.
Asked about the strikes, Trump said he was “not happy about it,” adding, “We have to end this whole nightmare.”
Other Western leaders were more forceful in their criticism.
On Wednesday, Pope Leo demanded that Israel stop the “collective punishment” and forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza as he pleaded for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
“I beg for a permanent ceasefire to be reached, the safe entry of humanitarian aid to be facilitated and humanitarian law to be fully respected,” the first American pontiff said during his weekly general audience attended by thousands of people in the Vatican’s auditorium.