As Israel sets out to expand military operations in Gaza, a senior Israeli official told Newsweek that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sticking behind U.S. President Donald Trump 's vision of transforming the war-torn Palestinian territory into a coveted Middle East destination.

Hamas releases Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza, ahead of President Trump’s Middle East trip

A months-long Israeli blockade is worsening acute malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, medical charity Medecins du Monde warned on Tuesday, accusing Israel of using hunger as "a weapon of war".Israel halted all aid from entering the war-ravaged Palestinian territory on March 2,

United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher on Tuesday said an Israeli plan aid distribution in the Gaza Strip was a "cynical sideshow, a deliberate distraction, a fig leaf for further violence and displacement" of Palestinians in the enclave.

Hamas says Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza, will be released as part of efforts to establish a ceasefire, reopen crossings into the territory and resume the delivery of aid. The Hamas statement Sunday night does not say when the release will happen.

International aid agencies warn that plans presented by Israel to control aid distribution in Gaza will only increase suffering and death in the devastated Palestinian territory.

At least 45 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike on residential buildings in Jabalia area, northern Gaza - Anadolu Ajansı

IDF strikes Hamas terrorists in a command and control center located in an underground terrorist infrastructure site beneath the European hospital in Khan Yunis.