Israel yesterday said that its troops were still operating in Gaza and warned residents not to return, despite calls from the families of Israeli hostages and US President Donald Trump for an immediate halt to the fighting.
Trump issued the appeal to the key US ally after Palestinian militant group Hamas said it was ready to release all hostages and start talks on the details of his plan to end the war.
“The movement announces its approval for the release of all hostages — living and remains — according to the exchange formula included in President Trump’s proposal,” Hamas said in a statement on Friday.
Photo: Reuters
“Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE. Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!” Trump later wrote on Truth Social.
A senior Hamas official yesterday said the group was “ready to begin negotiations immediately to finalize all issues.”
Another Hamas official said Egypt, a mediator in the truce talks, would host a conference for Palestinian factions to decide on Gaza’s post-war future.
Trump’s proposal calls for a halt to hostilities, the release of hostages within 72 hours, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Hamas’ disarmament.
It also stipulates that Hamas and other factions “not have any role in the governance of Gaza,” with administration of the territory instead taken up by a technocratic body overseen by a post-war transitional authority headed by Trump himself.
“President Trump’s demand to stop the war immediately is essential to prevent serious and irreversible harm to the hostages,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement. “We call on Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu to immediately begin efficient and swift negotiations to bring all our hostages home.”
However, despite Trump’s appeal, Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israel carried out dozens of attacks on Gaza City overnight, with nearby hospitals reporting casualties.
“It was a very violent night, during which the [Israeli army] carried out dozens of airstrikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City and other areas in the Strip, despite President Trump’s call to halt the bombing,” agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said.
Bassal, whose agency is a rescue force which operates under Hamas authority, said 20 homes were destroyed overnight.
The Israeli military said it was operating in Gaza City and urged residents not to return.
“The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] troops are still operating in Gaza City, and returning to it is extremely dangerous. For your safety, avoid returning north or approaching areas of IDF troop activity anywhere — including in the southern Gaza Strip,” the military’s Arabic-language spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee, said on X.
Israeli media reported that the military had shifted to a defensive posture in Gaza following Trump’s call, but the military did not confirm that.
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