ISRAELI and US officials met in Washington today to discuss “postwar Gaza,” as the Israeli military told the entire population of Gaza City to prepare to flee.

Israeli bombers and tanks continued to flatten whole neighbourhoods in the city, Al Jazeera reported, while Gaza’s Health Ministry said 32 people had been killed by military action since dawn — eight while trying to obtain food aid — and 10 had starved to death, two of those children.

“The evacuation of Gaza City is inevitable,” army spokesman Avichay Adraee posted in Arabic on X. The Israeli government has proposed holding displaced Gazans in camps and treating all who refuse as enemy combatants. Many Palestinians believe they will never be allowed back, since the US administration of Donald Trump has proposed the ethnic cleansing of the entire territory and its redevelopment as a coastal resort.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the occupation of Gaza City and pursuit of a ceasefire will take place simultaneously, but Qatar, mediating, said Israel did not appear to want to reach a deal, having failed to respond for over a week to a ceasefire proposal accepted by Hamas that involves a 60-day truce and further exchanges of Hamas hostages for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was due to meet Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar last night, while President Trump will chair a separate meeting to agree “a very comprehensive plan we’re putting together” for Gaza’s future. US envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News the focus of discussions was no longer bringing back the hostages, but “Gaza’s future.”