TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Five Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack in Gaza, the Israeli military said Tuesday, while health officials in the Palestinian territory said 18 people were killed in Israeli strikes.

Hospital officials in Gaza say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 38 Palestinians, while Israel has sent a ceasefire negotiating team to Qatar ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s White House visit.

An initial IDF probe found that infantry soldiers on foot were hit by a roadside bomb in Beit Hanoun and came under fire while evacuating the wounded, the report added. The Qassam brigades, the military wing of Hamas, claimed the attack, describing it as a "well-planned ambush," in an Arabic statement.

During their meeting, Netanyahu gave Trump a letter that the Israeli prime minister said he had used to nominate the U.S. president for the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump, appearing pleased by the gesture,

In the IDF strikes on Yemen, Israeli forces also claim they struck the Galaxy Leader, a ship that was taken over by Houthi forces in November 2023, shortly after the war between Israel and Hamas started following the events of Oct. 7, when Hamas led a terrorist attack on Israel that left 1,200 Israelis dead and 250 taken hostage.

Israeli fighter jets overnight attacked three Yemeni ports under the Houthis' control, hitting infrastructure it accused the Iran-proxy militia of using to receive weapons from Iran.

The Israeli air force struck three Houthi-controlled ports and one power plant in Yemen early Monday local time, the Israel Defense Forces announced. As part of a military operation dubbed “Black Flag,