The Latest: Palestinians report heavy strikes as Israeli defense minister says 'Gaza is burning'

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Palestinian residents reported heavy strikes Tuesday across Gaza City as Israel’s defense minister said that “Gaza is burning,” in remarks that come as Israel has been planning a new offensive targeting the city.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking to journalists while leaving Israel for Qatar, suggested the offensive had begun.

Overnight strikes in Gaza City killed at least 20 Palestinians, according to Shifa Hospital, which the received the bodies.

“It was a heavy night,” said Radwan Hayder, a Gaza City resident sheltering near the hospital.

Here's the latest:

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi described Israel as “an enemy” in a fiery speech at the Qatar summit Monday.

It was the first time an Egyptian leader used the term since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1979, said Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt's State Information Service.

“Egypt is being threatened,” Rashwan told the state-run Extra News television late Monday.

El-Sissi’s “enemy” comment played prominently across Egyptian newspapers’ front pages on Tuesday and while Cairo has taken no steps to change its status with Israel, the Egyptian government likely is trying to signal just how seriously it takes Israel’s recent actions.

Marco Rubio met Tuesday with Qatar’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Rubio shook hands with both Sheikh Tamim and Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, before starting the meeting.

A team of independent experts commissioned by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, in a report Tuesday that calls on the international community to end the genocide and take steps to punish those responsible for it.

The deeply-documented findings by the three-member team are the latest accusations of genocide against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government by rights advocates as Israeli carries on with its war against Hamas in Gaza.

Israel rejected what it called a “distorted and false” report.

While neither the commission nor the 47-member-country council that it works for within the U.N. system can take action against a country, the findings could be used by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court or the U.N.’s International Court of Justice.

The team was commissioned by the Human Rights Council, the U.N.’s top human rights body, but it does not speak for the United Nations.

The Israeli military announced Tuesday that its expanded operation in Gaza City “to destroy Hamas’ military infrastructure” has begun and warned residents to move south.

Israel’s Arabic language spokesperson Avichay Adraee announced the expansion of Israel’s operation on X, after a night of heavy strikes against northern Gaza that killed at least 20 people.

Israel has been warning the famine-stricken Gaza City residents to evacuate for the past month ahead of the operation but many have said they are unable to evacuate due to overcrowding in Gaza’s south and the high price of transport.

Marco Rubio arrived Tuesday in Qatar for a visit after Israel attacked Hamas leaders there.

Rubio’s plane landed Tuesday morning in Doha, where he was expected to meet with the country’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Qatar hosted a summit Monday that saw Arab and Islamic countries denounce Israel over the attack last week that killed six people.

But leaders offered different views about what to do, and the group agreed to take only minimal action.

Spain summoned Israel’s acting ambassador in Madrid Tuesday for the second time in less than a week over comments made the day before by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar toward Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

On Monday, Sánchez called for Israel to be banned from international sporting events over its actions in Gaza.

Saar responded on X by calling the Spanish leader an “antisemite and a liar.”

Spain has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.

On Sunday, thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters in Madrid disrupted the final leg of a top cycling event because an Israeli team was taking part, which caused the race’s finale to be cancelled.

Shifa Hospital in Gaza City received the bodies of 12 people who were killed in a strike that hit multiple houses in the western part of the city, said Dr. Rami Mhanna, managing director of the hospital.

He told The Associated Press that more than 90 injured also arrived at the facility in the past six hours.

He said first responders reported that many casualties are still under the rubble in multiple areas, and that the death toll is likely to increase.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking to journalists while leaving Israel for Qatar, acknowledged the start of operations in Gaza City and stressed the need for an immediate end to the conflict that eliminates Hamas.

“The Israelis have begun to take operations there. So we think we have a very short window of time in which a deal can happen,” Rubio said. “We don’t have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks to go.”

Rubio said a deal would need to include the release of hostages and the demilitarization and disarming of Hamas.

Rubio plans to visit Qatar on Tuesday after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a day earlier in Israel, where they showed a unified front in the face of international anger over Israel’s airstrikes on Hamas leaders in Qatar and its bombardment of Gaza City.

The Trump administration appears keen to ease tensions between its two close allies, following Israel’s strike in Doha last week.