Israel launched a new wave of air strikes and shelling on targets across Gaza on Thursday morning, killing at least 80 people, according to officials in the Palestinian territory.

The violence of raids and bombings has risen for weeks in the past 48 hours, and the death toll is close to the first few days of Israel's offensive in Gaza after a fragile ceasefire shutdown in March.

At least 13 people were “recovered from the ruins” after the dawn strike in the southern city of Khan Younis, while 35 people died in 12 separate strikes elsewhere, Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the Gaza Civil Defense Agency.

Witnesses of Khan Younis reported multiple air strikes in the city starting early in the morning and saw many bodies being taken to the morgue of the city's Nasser Hospital. Some bodies arrived, some contained the remains of multiple people, they said. The hospital's morgue said 54 people were killed.

When Donald Trump ended his journey to the Middle East, Gaza's offense intensified, visiting Saudi Arabia and Qatar and was scheduled to arrive in the United Arab Emirates. There is a widespread hope that Trump’s regional visit will introduce a ceasefire agreement or updates to humanitarian aid to Gaza, which is now in a third month under Israeli lockdown.

Trump said Thursday that he hopes the U.S. “take over” Gaza and turn it into a “free zone,” which could be a reaffirmation of a plan he proposed in February to give the U.S. control of the Palestinian territory to rebuild it as a hub for luxury leisure and business. The plan involves the possibility of permanent replacement of its 2.3 million population.

"I think the concept of Gaza is very good: make it a free zone, get the United States involved, make it a free zone, "Thank the United States to have it, take it away, make it a free zone, I'm proud of it."

Analysts say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's itinerary to miss Israel's itinerary, evidence of tensions between the two leaders.

Netanyahu, who led the most right-wing government in Israel's history, vowed earlier this week to push for an expanded offensive in Gaza to achieve Israel's war goal of "shattering" Hamas and release 58 hostages he holds.

Hamas took 251 hostages in the October 2023 attack on Israel, during which its militants killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians. According to Gaza's Ministry of Health, Israel's subsequent attack killed at least 52,928 people, mainly civilians, which the United Nations believes is reliable.

The number of casualties reported in the past 48 hours (approximately 160) has not been independently confirmed. Israeli officials said many of the recent strikes targeted senior Hamas commanders and accused Hamas of using civilians as a human shield, an allegation denied by radical Islamic groups.

Israel's continued blockade of Gaza is increasing. Inventories of food and fuel were almost exhausted. According to the survey results of the integrated food security phase classification, nearly 500,000 Palestinians are facing possible hunger, and one million people are barely able to access enough food, which is the leading international authority on the severity of the hunger crisis.

Israel claims that it is necessary to stop Hamas from robbing and selling aid to fund its military and other operations, and it proposed a plan to distribute humanitarian aid from a series of hubs in the Gaza Center operated by private contractors and protected by Israeli forces.

Representatives of the family under review will be allowed to pick up monthly food packaging from six hubs in southern Gaza.

The U.S.-based Humanitarian Foundation for Gaza has been formed to manage a new plan and announced on Wednesday that it will begin working in Gaza at the end of this month and demand that Israel lift its lockdown.

Israel has not commented on the statement.

Aid officials in Gaza, including the United Nations, described the plan as unfeasible, insufficient, dangerous and potentially illegal, while the granted Gulf countries reportedly refused to support the plan.