President Trump spoke on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal and the nuclear talks with Iran, according to Israeli and U.S. officials.

Why it matters: The phone call took place amid a stalemate in the Gaza negotiations after another failed attempt last week by the U.S. and Egypt to put forward a bridging proposal both sides could accept.

As a young photojournalist living in Gaza, Fatima Hassouna knew that death was always at her doorstep. As she spent the past 18 months of war documenting airstrikes, the demolition of her home, the endless displacement and the killing of 11 family members, all she demanded was that she not be allowed to go quietly.

A young Gazan photojournalist, Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli strike in northern Gaza this week, according to the Guardian.

The Britsh newspaper reported Friday that Hassouna, 25, was killed Wednesday along with 10 members of her family, including her pregnant sister, several days before she was due to be married.

The Israeli military said Sunday that an investigation into its soldiers’ deadly attack on medics in southern Gaza last month had identified “several professional failures” and that a commander would be dismissed.

A predawn Israeli strike on al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, the last major hospital providing critical healthcare in northern Gaza, has sparked condemnation in Palestine and across the world as Israel continues to attack healthcare facilities.

Israel on Sunday claimed it struck a Hamas command and control centre at the hospital, without providing evidence, while Hamas denied the allegations.

A hospital in Gaza was intentionally hit by the Israeli military on Palm Sunday prompting widespread condemnations from Christian groups in the Middle East.

The Israeli Defense Forces claimed in a statement Sunday that it had dismantled an alleged Hamas "command and control center" operating inside the al-Ahli Hospital.

Claiming it held a "command and control center used by Hamas," Israel chose Palm Sunday to bomb the only Christian hospital in war-shattered Gaza. It was also the last fully-functioning hospital in Gaza City. No casualties from the bombing per se were reported by Gaza's civil emergency service. However, a child who'd been hospitalized for a head wound died from "the rushed evacuation process," said the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which runs the al Ahli Arab Hospital. The diocese is part of the Anglican Church. 

President Trump announced Monday that his administration would convene direct talks with Iran later this week — saying that he hopes for “a deal” to avoid “the obvious” military alternative.

“We’re having direct talks with Iran,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office while hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to eliminate Israel's trade deficit with the United States after the Trump administration-imposed 17 percent tariffs on Israeli goods last week.

President Trump said Monday that the U.S. had been holding "direct talks" with Iran and that a "very big meeting" involving "very high-level" officials will be taking place this Saturday.