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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's goal of seizing 70 percent of the Gaza Strip was not part of the U.S.-drafted 20-point plan to end the conflict between Israel and Hamas and rebuild the territory, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday, reported Xinhua. "We have a plan -- it doesn't call for that," Rubio told U.S. lawmakers at a hearing. "And at the end of the day, we understand that what we want, and I think what the Israelis would ultimately want, is a Gaza that is governed by a non-Hamas (entity)," Rubio said. Netanyahu said on Thursday that he had issued a directive to increase the Israeli military's control over the Gaza Strip from 60 percent to 70 percent of the territory. Meanwhile, three Palestinians were killed on Monday by Israeli fire in central and southern Gaza, according to a Palestinian source. Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense in Gaza, told Xinhua an Israeli airstrike targeted a civilian vehicle in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, killing one Palestinian and wounding others. In al-Zawayda, also in central Gaza, one Palestinian was killed and several others injured in an Israeli shelling, according to Basal. In southern Gaza Strip, a Palestinian was killed by Israeli army fire near Hamad City, northwest of Khan Younis, he added. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on these incidents. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Tuesday that "Over the past several days, the IDF eliminated five terrorists from multiple terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip who were advancing imminent terror attacks against IDF troops." Meanwhile, Gaza-based health authorities said Tuesday hospitals in the Gaza Strip received one dead and nine wounded in the past 24 hours. In a press statement, the authorities added that the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli army fire since the ceasefire in Gaza in October 2025 has reached 933, while the total number of injuries has reached 2,868, bringing the overall toll since Oct. 7, 2023, to 72,942 dead and 172,967 wounded.
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