Palestinian death toll tops 66,000 as Israel’s Netanyahu prepares to meet with Trump in the U.S.

CAIRO (AP) — Over 66,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Sunday, a day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to the White House for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on halting Israel’s ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu has come under heavy international pressure to end the war. Key Western allies have joined a growing list of countries recognizing a Palestinian state over Israeli objections. The European Union is considering sanctions against Israel and there are growing moves for a sports and cultural boycott against Israel.

After dozens of delegates poured out of the hall, a defiant Netanyahu told fellow world leaders Friday at the U.N. General Assembly that his nation “must finish the job” against Hamas in Gaza as his military continued its offensive in Gaza City.

Trump has so far stood behind Israel. But the U.S. leader has shown signs of impatience lately, particularly after Israel’s bombing of Qatar earlier this month in what appears to have been a failed attempt to kill Hamas’ leadership. In Monday’s White House meeting, Trump is expected to share a new proposal for ending the war.

Forty-eight hostages are still held captive in Gaza, around 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive. Ceasefire talks have been stalled since Israel’s widely condemned strike in Doha, Qatar.

Trump’s 21-point ceasefire plan

Trump has floated a 21-point proposal for an immediate ceasefire.

The proposal would include the release of all hostages within 48 hours and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian enclave, according to three Arab officials briefed on the plan. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing talks, said the proposal is not final and changes are highly likely.

Trump discussed the proposal with Arab leaders in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

A Hamas official said the group was briefed on the plan but has yet to receive an official offer from Egyptian and Qatari mediators. Hamas has said it is ready to “study any proposals positively and responsibly.”

The official said the group had previously said it was willing to release all hostages in return for an end to the war and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the strip.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel will be in Cairo to push ceasefire

The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, will visit Cairo to meet with Egyptian officials to discuss the ceasefire as well as Egypt’s frayed ties with Israel, according to officials.

The trip will likely take place early next month, according to two Egyptian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the details of the trip have not yet been published. The U.S. Embassy in Israel said Huckabee will travel to Cairo as part of “regular diplomatic consultations” between regional partners.

The relationship between Israel and Egypt — the first Arab country to establish ties with Israel — has unraveled in recent months over Israel’s attack targeting Hamas leadership in Doha and worries that Palestinians squeezed out of the Gaza Strip could flood into Egypt. Israel has also expressed concern over an Egyptian military buildup in the Sinai peninsula, a violation of the 1979 peace treaty between the two countries.

Nonstop explosions reported in Gaza

Local hospitals in central Gaza said at least 10 people people were killed when at least two strikes hit homes in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

The ministry said in its daily report the death toll has climbed to 66,005, with a further 168,162 wounded since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Among the dead were 79 who were brought to hospitals in the past 24 hours, it said.

The ministry, part of the Hamas-run administration, does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its toll, but has said women and children make up around half the dead. Its figures are seen as a reliable estimate by the U.N. and many independent experts.

Residents reported hearing sounds of explosions overnight across the city, likely coming from the demolition of buildings through the detonation of explosive-laden vehicles and robots. “They were nonstop,” Sayed Baker, a Palestinian who shelters close to a Shifa hospital, said of the explosions.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes, but said it struck 140 Hamas military targets over the past 24 hours, including militants, observation equipment and infrastructure.

Israel’s offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced around 90% of the population and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts saying Gaza City is experiencing famine. ___ Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writer Sam Mednick contributed from Tel Aviv, Israel.

Samy Magdy And Melanie Lidman, The Associated Press