Israeli attacks across the besieged Gaza Strip have killed at least 70 Palestinians, medical sources said, despite calls from United States President Donald Trump for Israel to stop its bombardment after Hamas said it had accepted some elements of Trump’s 20-point plan to end Israel’s war.
At least 45 of the victims killed in bombardments and air strikes on Saturday were in the famine-struck Gaza City, where the Israeli army has been pressing an offensive in recent weeks, forcing some one million residents to flee to the overcrowded south.
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Eighteen people were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli strike on a residential home in the Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City, medics said. The attack also damaged several buildings nearby.
In a statement shared on Telegram, Gaza’s civil defence agency said seven children between the ages of two months and eight years old were among those killed.
Israeli forces also targeted a displacement camp in al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, killing two children and wounding at least eight others.
Al-Mawasi is a so-called safe humanitarian zone that the Israeli army has been ordering Palestinian families to evacuate to. But the area has been repeatedly targeted over the last few weeks and months.
There have also been air raids on other areas, including in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from az-Zawayda.
“Hospitals are unable to treat all of these Palestinians,” she said, referring to the handful of battered medical facilities that remain functional in the north amid a severe fuel shortage.
“What is happening on the ground doesn’t show that there is any type of ceasefire,” she said.
Trump demands urgency
On Saturday, Trump urged Hamas to move quickly to release captives and finalise negotiations over his plan to end the war, “or else all bets will be off”.
“I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again. Let’s get this done, FAST. Everyone will be treated fairly!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
In a separate post later on Saturday, Trump said Israel had agreed to an initial “withdrawal line” and that it was also shared with Hamas.
“When Hamas confirms, the Ceasefire will be IMMEDIATELY effective, the Hostages and Prisoner Exchange will begin, and we will create the conditions for the next phase of withdrawal,” he wrote.
Hamas had agreed to certain key parts of Trump’s 20-point proposal, including Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and the release of Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners. But the group has left some questions unanswered, such as whether it would be willing to disarm.
Trump will be sending his envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to Egypt to finalise the technical details of the captive release and discuss a lasting peace deal, according to a White House official. Egypt will also host delegations from Israel and Hamas on Monday to discuss things further, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
The first phase of Trump’s proposal includes the return of all captives, dead and alive, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Speaking to reporters from Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed negotiators will be working on a timeline for the release of the remaining captives under Trump’s Gaza plan in Egypt.
He also reiterated that the US proposal includes the demilitarisation of Hamas.
That will be achieved either through Trump’s proposal or through Israeli military action, he said. He added he hoped to announce the return of the captives, all while the Israeli military remained deep in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Hamas has decried Israel’s ongoing attacks on the enclave, saying they are proof of “Netanyahu’s lies” about ceasing its offensive in the enclave after Trump’s call.
“The Zionist occupation army continues to commit its horrific crimes and massacres against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip,” Hamas said in a statement.
The group called on the international community, including Islamic and Arab states, to take “urgent action to protect and provide relief to our people”.
Adnan Hayajneh, a professor of international relations and US foreign policy at Qatar University, said Hamas wants guarantees that if it releases the Israeli captives, there will be implementation of the rest of Trump’s 20-point plan. This includes a clear picture of what the future governance of Gaza will look like.
“There’ll be a long negotiation, and Hamas will take part in it,” Hayajneh told Al Jazeera.
Arab leaders also aired some reservations about the plan to Trump, “but most of the reservations were not taken into consideration regarding the governance of Gaza, the military forces … the future of arms,” said the professor.
“If you look at the plan, it’s almost a surrender for Hamas,” he added. “I think they’re leaving that bargaining chip, which is very important, the hostages, for the last minute.”
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 67,000 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and experts believe the actual toll could be as much as three times higher.
