Middle East latest: Israel orders another Gaza evacuation ahead of an offensive

The Israeli military on Wednesday ordered Palestinians to evacuate another section of central Gaza ahead of an offensive in the built-up Bureij refugee camp, even as Israel and the Hamas appeared to inch closer to a ceasefire in the 14-month war.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he will meet Wednesday with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's Mideast envoy, Adam Boehler, at home in Jerusalem. Boehler, a former aid to Jared Kushner, met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week.

As deadly Israeli strikes pound Gaza each day, talks to broker the ceasefire and hostage release deal have restarted after a monthslong pause. The deal on the table includes a six-week pause in fighting in which Hamas would release 30 hostages, including three of four dual Israeli-U.S. citizens. In exchange, Israel would release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Trump has said he wants a quick end to the war.

Israeli bombardment and offensives in Gaza have killed more than 45,000 Palestinians during the war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry’s tally does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, but it says more than of half the dead were women and children.

Israel launched the war in retaliation for Hamas’ October 2023 attack on southern Israel in which militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 250 others, around 100 of whom remain in captivity. Israel believes a third of the remaining hostages are dead.