MORE than 66,000 Palestinians have been killed since the Israelis launched their retaliatory attack on Gaza, the enclave’s Health Ministry said today.

The death toll, now said to be 66,005 — mainly women and children and widely believed to be far higher — came a day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to the White House for talks with United States President Donald Trump.

Mr Netanyahu has come under heavy international pressure to agree to an end to the bloodshed and widespread starvation. 

There is a growing list of countries recognising 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, an unrepentant Israeli prime minister told the few remaining delegates on Friday at the United Nations General Assembly that his nation “must finish the job” against Hamas in Gaza as his military continued its offensive in Gaza City.

President Trump has signalled his intention to share tomorrow a new 21-point proposal for ending the fighting.

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. 

In a social media post today, the US president claimed: “We have a real chance for greatness in the Middle East. All are on board for something special, for the first time ever. We will get it done!”

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.

In Gaza, Israeli tanks have reportedly pushed deeper into the Gaza City neighbourhoods of Sabra, Tal al-Hawa, Sheikh Radwan and Nassr.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee Gaza City in the face of the intense Israeli bombardment.

At least 40 Palestinians were reportedly killed today by the Israelis, according to local medical sources.

A source at al-Ahli Hospital said a child was among the two people killed by the Israelis during an attack on the Sabra neighbourhood in the south of Gaza City.