Israeli military strikes killed at least 70 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, local health authorities said, in an intensification of the bombardment as US President Donald Trump visits the Middle East.

Medics said most of the dead, including women and children, were killed in a barrage of Israeli airstrikes that targeted houses in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza.

“Some victims are still on the road and under the rubble where rescue and civil emergency teams can’t reach (them),” the health ministry statement said.

Israel’s military had no immediate comment. It said it was trying to verify the reports.

Israeli press reports on Wednesday cited security officials as saying they believed Hamas military leader Mohammad Sinwar and other senior officials had been killed in a strike on Tuesday on what the Israeli military described as a command and control bunker under the European Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

There was no confirmation by the Israeli military or Hamas. On Wednesday, witnesses and medics said an Israeli airstrike hit a bulldozer that approached the area of the strike at the European Hospital, wounding several people.

Late on Tuesday, Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-backed militant group allied with Hamas, fired rockets from Gaza towards Israel. Shortly before the Israeli retaliatory strikes, Israel’s military issued evacuation orders to residents in the area of Jabalia and nearby Beit Lahiya.

TRUMP VISIT

Palestinians hope Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will provide pressure for a reduction of violence. Hamas on Monday released Edan Alexander, the last known living American hostage it had been holding.

Trump said in Riyadh on Tuesday that more hostages would follow Alexander and that the people of Gaza deserved a better future. He is not visiting Israel during his Middle East trip.

Ceasefire efforts have faltered, with Hamas and Israel trading blame. Hamas talked to the United States and Egyptian and Qatari mediators to arrange Alexander’s release, and Israel has sent a team to Doha to begin a new round of talks.

On Tuesday, Trump’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Adam Boehler met hostage families in Tel Aviv and said they could now see a better chance of an agreement for the hostages’ release following the deal over Alexander.

The US has also presented a plan to reopen humanitarian aid deliveries in Gaza using private contractors. Israel, which imposed a total blockade of supplies going into Gaza from March 2, has endorsed the plan. It has been rejected by the United Nations and international aid agencies, and details, including funding and donors, remain unclear.

Israel invaded Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack on southern Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken as hostages to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 52,900 Palestinians, according to local health officials. It has left the small coastal enclave on the brink of famine, according to aid groups and international agencies.