Israeli strikes kill 17 in Gaza and destroy heavy equipment needed to clear rubble

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip killed at least 17 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and destroyed bulldozers and other heavy equipment that had been supplied by mediators to clear rubble. Separate strikes killed two people in Lebanon.

Also on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump spoke by phone, two weeks after the two met in Washington. Trump wrote on his social networking site Truth Social that the two spoke about trade and Iran, among other issues. “The call went very well—We are on the same side of every issue,” he wrote.

Netanyahu's office did not have an immediate comment, but his hastily-arranged visit to Washington was not deemed a rousing success after he appeared to fail to secure the support he wanted from Trump on issues such as stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons, reducing Trump's tariffs, the influence of Turkey and the war in Gaza.

Israel's 18-month offensive against Hamas has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, raising fears that much of it may never be rebuilt. The territory already had a shortage of heavy equipment, which is also needed to rescue people from the rubble after Israeli strikes and to clear vital roads.

The Israeli military said it struck and destroyed around 40 pieces of heavy machinery. Israel said Hamas used the vehicles, including bulldozers, for planting explosives, digging tunnels, and breaching fences, including during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack.

A municipality in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza said a strike on its parking garage destroyed nine bulldozers provided by Egypt and Qatar, which helped broker the ceasefire that took hold in January. Israel ended the truce last month, renewing its bombardment and ground operations and sealing the territory's 2 million Palestinians off from all imports, including food, fuel and medical supplies.

The strikes also destroyed a water tanker and a mobile generator provided by aid groups, and a truck used to pump sewage, the Jabaliya al-Nazla municipality said.

An Israeli airstrike early Tuesday destroyed a multistory home in the southern city of Khan Younis, killing nine people, including four women and four children, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. The dead included a 2-year-old girl and her parents.

“They were asleep, sleeping in God’s peace. They had nothing to do with anything,” said Awad Dahliz, the slain girl's grandfather. “What is the fault of this innocent child?"

Also on Tuesday, a strike in the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp killed three children and their parents, and a strike in Nuseirat killed a man and two children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry's emergency service and local hospitals.

The Israeli military did not have immediate comment on the strikes, but has accused Hamas of using civilian infrastructure for militant purposes.

Israel's air and ground war has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 people hostage. They are still holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Hamas has said it will only free the remaining hostages in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal and a lasting ceasefire. Israel has said it will keep fighting until the hostages are returned and Hamas has been either destroyed or disarmed and sent into exile. It has pledged to hold onto so-called security zones in Gaza indefinitely.

An Israeli drone strike southeast of Beirut killed Hussein Atwi, a member of the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, a regionwide Sunni Islamist political movement. The group said he was leaving for work when the drone struck.

Lebanon's Health Ministry said another person was killed in an Israeli strike on the southern Tyre province, without providing further details. Israel said that its air force carried out the strike near Tyre and targeted a militant commander.

Israel has continued to carry out regular strikes across Lebanon despite reaching a ceasefire with the Hezbollah militant group in November. Israel says it is targeting militants and weapons caches. The Lebanese government says 190 people have been killed and 485 wounded since the ceasefire took hold.

Hezbollah began firing on Israel the day after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Israel responded with airstrikes, and the conflict in Lebanon escalated into a full-blown war in September when Israel carried out a heavy wave of strikes and killed most of Hezbollah's top leadership.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group said two of its senior members were arrested in Syria “without any explanation.” The Syrian government has not commented.

Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant group allied with Hamas and also backed by Iran, had an established presence in Syria during the rule of former President Bashar Assad. It sent fighters to Lebanon to support Hezbollah during the war with Israel.

The arrests came days after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visited Damascus and met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa. It was Abbas' first visit to Syria since before the 2011 uprising and the civil war that eventually led to Assad's overthrow last year.

Abbas leads the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, dominated by political rivals of Hamas.

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Palestinians examine the remains of bulldozers hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians inspect the damage caused by an Israeli army airstrike in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians inspect the damage caused by an Israeli army airstrike in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians inspect the damage caused by an Israeli army airstrike in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians inspect the damage caused by an Israeli army airstrike in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians examine the remains of bulldozers hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians examine the remains of bulldozers hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Smoke rises from the remains of bulldozers hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

A Palestinian man extinguishes the fire from bulldozers after they were hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians examine the remains of bulldozers hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians examine the remains of bulldozers hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)