The United States shared a 21-point Middle East peace plan at this week’s UN meetings and is hopeful for a breakthrough on Gaza in the coming days, its envoy to the region said on Wednesday.

US President Donald Trump presented proposals to leaders from several Muslim-majority countries – including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt – during a meeting held on the sidelines of the annual General Assembly on Monday, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said.

“I think it addresses Israeli concerns and, as well, the concerns of all the neighbours in the region,” he said on Wednesday.

“We’re hopeful, and I might say even confident that in the coming days we’ll be able to announce some sort of breakthrough,” he added.

Israel has drawn global condemnation over its war in Gaza, which is nearing the two-year mark with no ceasefire in sight.

The conflict has caused major destruction and killed more than 65,000 Palestinians.

A global hunger monitor says part of the territory is suffering from famine.

The White House remains a staunch ally of radical Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who is scheduled to address the General Assembly in New York on Friday during a US trip that also includes a meeting with Trump.

Both leaders have condemned the recognition of a Palestinian state by Western powers such as France and Britain over the last few days.

Israel has meanwhile pressed on with its military campaign in Gaza City, despite repeated calls for it to pull back.

In parallel to Trump’s plan, several European powers and Arab states have also been working on an initiative for what happens after the war in Gaza ends, including creating a stabilisation force made up of European and Muslim countries.

They met on Tuesday after Trump had held his meeting.

European diplomats hope that their work and a declaration endorsed by the General Assembly to support the deployment of a temporary international stabilisation mission can converge with US plans.

MANY REMAIN IN GAZA CITY

But as diplomatic efforts continue to falter, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have left Gaza City in the northern part of the territory, while others have hesitated because of security risks and widespread hunger.

“We moved to the western area near the beach, but many families didn’t have the time. Tanks took them by surprise,” said Thaer, a 35-year-old father of one from Tel Al Hawa, a suburb of Gaza City.

Israeli forces began closing in on the city of more than a million in August, with Israel saying it aimed to destroy the neighbourhood.

Israeli air strikes killed at least 50 people across Gaza on Wednesday, medics said, most of them in Gaza City when a strike hit a shelter for displaced families near a market.

Two more died in a nearby house, they said.

Video obtained by Reuters showed people sifting through the rubble.

“We were sleeping in God’s care. There was nothing – they did not inform us, or not even give us a sign. It was a surprise,” said Sami Hajjaj.

“There are children and women, around 200 people maybe, six to seven families – this square is full of families.”

In Tel Al Hawa, tanks entered populated areas, trapping people in their homes, while more tanks were stationed close to Al Quds Hospital, witnesses said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said an oxygen station had been damaged.

Tanks have also advanced closer to Gaza’s largest hospital, Al Shifa, witnesses and Palestinian media said.

The Israeli military alleged the group had opened fire from within the hospital compound, which Hamas denied.

“We fear these lies may be a prelude to another raid on the hospital,” said Ismail Al-Thawabta, the director of the Gaza government media office, in reference to several previous raids by Israeli forces.

Israel’s military released grainy aerial footage, which appeared to show gunfire coming from two windows.

The military did not immediately respond to queries about how it established that it was Hamas who had opened fire and at whom.

A Hamas security official said “criminal gangs” had opened fire at the hospital from outside the complex.

Separately, Israeli troops killed one Palestinian in a raid in Anza village outside Jenin and an Israeli settler shot another in Al Mughayyir village northeast of Ramallah over the past 24 hours, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

Violence in the West Bank has intensified during the Gaza war, as Israel has stepped up raids across the territory.

In southern Gaza, at least 13 people were killed in Nuseirat and near Rafah, medics said.