At least 25 killed by Israeli gunfire while seeking aid

ISRAELI gunfire killed at least 25 people seeking aid yesterday, health officials and witnesses said, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will "allow" Palestinians to leave during an upcoming military offensive in Gaza.

- MELANIE LIDMAN AND SAMY MAGDY

Mr Netanyahu wants to realise US President Donald Trump's vision of relocating much of Gaza's population of more than two million people through what the prime minister refers to as “voluntary migration” - and what critics have warned could be ethnic cleansing.

“Give them the opportunity to leave! First, from combat zones, and also from the Strip if they want,” Mr Netanyahu said in an interview aired on Tuesday with i24, an Israeli TV station, to discuss the planned offensive in some of the territory's most populated areas including Gaza City.

“We are not pushing them out but allowing them to leave.”

Witnesses and staff at Nasser and Awda hospitals, which received the bodies, said people were killed on their way to aid distribution sites and while awaiting convoys entering the Gaza Strip.

Israel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Efforts to revive ceasefire talks have resumed after apparently breaking down last month.

Hamas and Egyptian officials were set to meet yesterday to discuss efforts to stop the war, according to Hamas official Taher al-Nounou.

Israel has no plans to send its negotiating team to talks in Cairo, the prime minister's office said.