Dozens killed in second night of Gaza airstrikes

MORE than 50 people perished in overnight airstrikes that blitzed southern Gaza for a second night.

- By Alice Scarsi

They came as US president Donald Trump visited the Middle East’s Gulf states, but avoided Israel.

Meanwhile, a senior Hamas official said the militant group was in direct talks with the United States over peace in Gaza, and he believed Mr Trump could broker a pact.

Dr Basem Naim added that to secure peace, Hamas, which has been in power in Gaza since 2006, was “ready to hand over the government immediately if we reach an end of this war”.

The group wants “a prisoner exchange, total withdrawal of Israeli forces, allowing all the aid to get into Gaza and rebuilding of [the] Gaza Strip without forceful immigration”.

Dr Naim said Hamas had also “accepted” an Egyptian peace proposal about “forming a Palestinian, independent, politically unaffiliated body to run the Gaza Strip”.

Pressure

He added he believed Mr Trump “has the capability and the will to reach this peaceful situation”.

The official told Sky News: “Gaza and Gazans are deserving, like all other people everywhere, to live in peace and dignity. And I think President Trump can do it if he exercises enough pressure on the Israelis to end this war immediately.