DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike hit a street in central Gaza on Thursday where witnesses said a crowd of people was getting bags of flour from a Palestinian police unit that had confiscated the goods from gangs looting aid convoys. Hospital officials said 18 people were killed.

There is hope among families of hostages that Trump’s involvement in securing the recent ceasefire between Israel and Iran might exert more pressure for a deal in Gaza.

More than 500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire as they approached the aid sites or trucks carrying aid, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Israeli leaders are denying claims that soldiers were ordered to shoot at Palestinians approaching aid sites in Gaza

The Israeli military is managing aid distribution sites with live fire against crowds of unarmed civilians. Hundreds are dead

Iran held a funeral procession for top military commanders and scientists who were killed in this month’s Israeli air strikes, in a public show of defiance against the US and Israel. Hundreds of thousands of mourners took to the streets of Tehran on Saturday,

"The volume of attacks appears to be relatively low," said Nicole Fishbein, a senior security researcher with the Israeli company Intezer. "The techniques used are not particularly sophisticated." Online vigilante groups alleged by security analysts to be acting at Iran’s direction boasted of hacking a series of Israeli and Western companies in the wake of the airstrikes.

Iranian authorities are sweeping up hundreds of people deemed suspected spies or infiltrators. Some worry the campaign could become a broader crackdown on political opponents and minorities.

Trump’s social media post condemning the trial as a “WITCH HUNT,” came just two days after he called off an Israeli bombing raid in Iran to preserve a ceasefire.

The U.S. President said his friend is being put through a “witch hunt” corruption trial, but the Israeli leader’s hold on power is threatened by domestic political issues too.