• During Trump's Middle East tour, Israel kills around 400 Palestinians

GAZA / ISTANBUL

During US President Trump’s Middle East tour from May 13 to 16, the Israeli military killed approximately 400 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including women and children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

According to the Ministry, 78 people died in the three days preceding Trump’s visit to the region, indicating a significant escalation in the intensity of the attacks.

Israeli local media reported on May 5 that the Israeli security cabinet discussed an attack plan aimed at expanding the occupation in the Gaza Strip.

An unnamed senior official stated that the security cabinet unanimously approved the plan. Following this date, there was an increase in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Days of bloodshed in Gaza

Trump began his tour in Saudi Arabia on May 13, followed by a visit to Qatar on May 14 and then arrived in the United Arab Emirates on May 15.

Since the beginning of the US President’s Middle East tour, the Israeli military has launched intense attacks on several medical centers, including Nasser Hospital and the European Gaza Hospital, as well as civilian residential areas and facilities.

On the first day of the tour, the Israeli army issued evacuation orders for seven areas, including densely populated neighborhoods such as Jabalia, Tel al-Zaatar, Sheikh Zayed, and al-Salam in northern Gaza.

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee described the warning as “the final warning before the attack.”

Following the warning, bombardments killed and injured many people, including women and children.

That same day, artillery strikes targeted both Nasser Hospital and the Gaza European Hospital, as well as homes and tents sheltering displaced people. Approximately 48 people were killed in the attacks.

On the second day of Trump’s visit, Israeli shelling targeting homes, civilians, and tents for displaced people killed around 118 Palestinians.

Additionally, evacuation orders were issued for four schools in Gaza City and for residential areas, including al-Shifa Hospital.

On the third day of Trump’s visit, Thursday, Israeli airstrikes targeted the homes and tents of displaced people, as well as a health center and a mosque in various parts of the blockaded Gaza Strip, killing approximately 94 Palestinians.

In Gaza, which has been under Israeli blockade for 18 years and is home to more than 2 million people, around 1.5 million Palestinians have been left homeless due to the attacks.

As a result of Tel Aviv’s imposition of a humanitarian aid blockade on Gaza since March 2, the Gaza Strip is also facing a famine crisis.

Gaza people 'deserve a much better future,' says Trump

On Tuesday, Israel intensified its bombardment, acts of genocide, and killings, as Trump, during a speech in Saudi Arabia, said that the Palestinians in Gaza “deserve a much better future.”

Palestinians viewed this as a direct message from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu aimed at blocking diplomatic pressure for a ceasefire.

In a statement on Thursday, Hamas said Netanyahu was trying to sabotage mediators' efforts for ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement by escalating attacks and massacres against innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip.

The statement described the attacks as part of an ongoing genocide targeting civilians, emphasizing that bombing residential areas with their inhabitants reflects a “brutal, fascist” approach that will not bring victory to Netanyahu.

Hamas reiterated its readiness to enter comprehensive negotiations, proposing the collective release of Israeli captives in exchange for an end to the genocide, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the release of Palestinian detainees.

Netanyahu, while introducing new preconditions, has been evading the process and also insists on the disarmament of Hamas—a demand the group rejects as long as Israel continues its occupation of Palestinian lands.

Meanwhile, in Israel, opposition figures and families of the captives accuse Netanyahu of prolonging the genocide in Gaza to appease the far-right wing of his government, claiming his actions are driven entirely by personal political interests—especially his desire to remain in power.

‘Horrific massacres’

Ismail Al-Thawabta, Director of Gaza’s Government Media Office, told Anadolu that the sharp increase in the number of people killed by occupying forces in Gaza coincided with Trump’s visit.

“This situation once again reveals that such visits are merely a political cover and carry a covert signal for more attacks, occupation, and genocide. While Trump makes false propaganda statements about a better future for Palestinians, the Israeli war machine led by the occupation government is committing horrific massacres against civilians,” Al-Thawabta said.

“The war machine is expanding genocide and ethnic cleansing against our people; this exposes the falsity of the statements made and shows how the US is complicit by providing political and military support to the attacks,” he added.

Al-Thawabta described these statements as “attempts to whitewash the face of the occupation and mislead public opinion,” emphasizing that Trump’s so-called promises of a better future lose all credibility as long as the massacres, targeting of families, destruction of infrastructure, and killing of children and women continue.