JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met here on Thursday with Nikolay Mladenov, a candidate to lead a proposed new executive body for Gaza, and reiterated demands for the disarming of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Palestinian enclave.

During the meeting, Netanyahu stressed that Hamas "must be disarmed" and Gaza "should be demilitarized" in line with a 20-point framework proposed by US President Donald Trump, read a statement from Netanyahu's office.

Mladenov, a Bulgarian diplomat who served as the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process from 2015 to 2020, has been designated as director-general of the proposed "Peace Council" for Gaza.

READ MORE: UN: Gaza peace force needs 'legitimacy'

His candidacy emerged after several Arab and Muslim states reportedly opposed the appointment of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to head the body, citing his support for the 2003 Iraq invasion.

The proposed executive committee is part of a broader Trump-backed plan for Gaza that envisions an international security or stabilization force and a temporary technocratic Palestinian administration that would exclude Hamas.

The meeting came amid ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza despite a fragile ceasefire that took effect in October 2025. Gaza-based health authorities said Thursday that at least 425 Palestinians have been killed and 1,206 others injured in Gaza since Oct 11, 2025.

4 Palestinians killed

Four Palestinians were killed and three others wounded on Thursday in two separate Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, Palestinian sources said.

Mahmoud Bassal, spokesperson for the Gaza Civil Defense, said rescue teams recovered the bodies of three people and evacuated three wounded individuals, including one in critical condition, after an airstrike hit a tent belonging to the al-Abadla family in the Mawasi area. Eyewitnesses said an Israeli drone fired at least one missile at the tent.

In a separate strike, a 39-year-old Palestinian man was killed when an Israeli drone targeted the Sheikh Nasser area near the Yellow Line in Khan Younis, Palestinian medical sources said.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the two incidents.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Hamas fired toward an area where Israeli troops were operating in Gaza City, which it called a "blatant violation" of the ceasefire agreement. In response, the IDF said it carried out a precise strike on a Hamas operative involved in attacks against its forces.

Gaza health authorities said hospitals received four bodies and seven wounded over the past 48 hours. They added that since the ceasefire took effect on Oct 10, Israeli attacks have killed 425 people and wounded 1,206 others. Since Oct 7, 2023, the total death toll in Gaza stands at 71,395, with 171,287 wounded.

At least 20 Palestinian families flee

At least 20 Palestinian families fled their homes in a Bedouin community north of Jericho, West Bank, on Thursday, driven out by a wave of intimidation and violence by Israeli settlers, according to a local human rights group.

The families abandoned the northern edge of the al-Auja community, leaving behind their homes and livelihoods out of fear for their lives, said Hassan Mleihat, the leader of Al-Baydar Center for the Defense of Bedouin Rights.

The displacement followed an incursion earlier in the day by settlers on horseback who stormed the area and chased residents. One Palestinian woman was injured after being kicked by a horse; she was treated by ambulance crews and later transferred to a hospital in Jericho.

Mleihat described the incident not as an isolated clash, but as part of a "systematic policy of forced displacement" aimed at clearing Bedouin communities from the strategic Jordan Valley. He called the actions a violation of international humanitarian law.

The Israeli authorities did not immediately comment on the reports.

READ MORE: Hopes rise for next phase of Gaza truce

The exodus from al-Auja comes amid rising tensions in the occupied West Bank, where more than 500,000 Israeli settlers live alongside roughly 3.4 million Palestinians.

While clashes have occurred for decades, recent data suggests a sharp escalation. On Wednesday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported more than 1,800 settler attacks in 2025 that caused casualties or property damage.

The attacks averaged five incidents per day across 280 communities. OCHA said this is the highest daily rate of such violence since it began tracking the data in 2006.