Gaza civil defense says heavy strikes despite Trump appeal

GAZA CITY

Smoke rises at the Al Harazin building following an air strike during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Oct. 3.

Gaza's civil defense agency said Saturday that Israel carried out dozens of attacks on Gaza City despite US President Donald Trump's appeal to end bombardments after Hamas accepted a ceasefire deal.

"It was a very violent night, during which the (Israeli army) carried out dozens of air strikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City and other areas in the Strip, despite President Trump's call to halt the bombing," civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

Bassal, whose agency is a rescue force which operates under Hamas authority, added that 20 homes were destroyed in the overnight bombardments.

"The situation is very serious in Gaza City," Bassal said, adding that his teams were not able to reach all the casualties due to the "presence of tanks and the ongoing bombardment".

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it was "checking" reports of overnight bombardments on Gaza City.

Gaza City's Baptist Hospital said in a statement that it received casualties from a strike on a home in Tuffah neighbourhood, including four dead and "several wounded".

Nasser Hospital in south Gaza's Khan Yunis said two children were killed and eight people wounded in a drone strike on a tent in camp for displaced Gazans.

Trump's peace proposal, backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a halt to hostilities in the nearly two-year conflict, the release of hostages within 72 hours, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Hamas's disarmament — a point the Islamist group did not mention in its response.

The plan also insists 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 statements on the immediate cessation of Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip are encouraging," Hamas spokesman Taher al-Nunu told AFP.

"Hamas is ready to immediately begin negotiations to achieve a prisoner exchange, end the war and ensure the withdrawal of the (Israeli) army from the Gaza Strip," he added.

"We are ready to begin negotiations immediately to finalize all issues," a senior Hamas official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Netanyahu's office said in response that Israel was "preparing for the immediate implementation of the first stage of the Trump plan for the release of all the hostages".

"We will continue to work in full cooperation with the President and his team to end the war in accordance with the principles set out by Israel, which align with President Trump's vision," Netanyahu's office said.

An AFP journalist in the Gaza Strip's coastal area of Al-Mawasi said they heard celebratory cries of "Allahu akbar!" (God is the greatest) rise from tents housing Palestinians as news of Hamas's response filtered through.

"The moment I read the news... my body trembled and shivered. A feeling came over me, like. 'Oh Allah, at last relief has come to us,'" Samah Al-Hu, a displaced Palestinian in Al-Mawasi, said.

Mohammad Abu Hatab, a Palestinian in Gaza City, said he was "very happy with Hamas's positive response and its opening of the door to new negotiations".

"We hope, with the efforts of mediators, that the war is completely halted and our joy is fulfilled," he told AFP.

Trump hailed the developments as a "very special day", adding in a brief video that all sides in any Gaza talks would be "treated fairly".

A senior Hamas official said Saturday that Egypt would organise a conference for Palestinian factions to decide on the post-war future of the Gaza Strip.

Egypt will host an "intra-Palestinian dialogue on Palestinian unity and the future of Gaza, including the administration of the Gaza Strip", the official told AFP.

  Hopeful reactions 

Earlier, Trump praised a statement from Hamas saying it was committed to a "lasting peace", after the U.S. leader gave the group until 2200 GMT on Sunday to accept his 20-point plan or else face "all hell".

In that statement, Hamas also agreed to hand over power in Gaza to technocrats but said it would "participate and contribute responsibly" in Palestinian discussions regarding the territory's future.

The announcements came after a Palestinian source close to Hamas's leadership told AFP this week that its leaders had been divided over the peace plan and hoped to change certain clauses.

Friday's developments drew a chorus of hopeful reactions from the international community.

Key mediators Qatar and Egypt both welcomed Hamas's statements, saying they hoped it would help towards ensuring an end to the conflict.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres "urges all parties to seize the opportunity", his spokesman said.

Emmanuel Macron of France, Friedrich Merz of Germany and Keir Starmer of Britain all hailed it as a major step towards peace.

Regional neighbour Turkey said Hamas's response "provides an opportunity for the immediate establishment of a ceasefire in Gaza".

 Heavy bombardment 

On the ground on Friday, Gaza's civil defense agency — a rescue force operating under Hamas authority — reported heavy air bombardment and artillery shelling on Gaza City.

It said Israeli strikes killed at least 11 people across the territory, including eight in Gaza City, but there was no response from the Israeli military when contacted by AFP.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swathes of the territory mean AFP cannot independently verify details or casualty figures provided by the Israeli military or the civil defense.

The Israeli military is waging an air and ground offensive on the territory's largest urban centre, from which hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee.

As the war nears the two-year mark and the death toll continues to rise, protesters around the world have railed against Israel's interception of a flotilla carrying pro-Palestinian activists and aid for Gaza.

On Friday, the organisers of the Global Sumud Flotilla said its last remaining boat had been intercepted, and Israel's foreign ministry said it had deported four Italian participants.

Israel's war has killed at least 66,288 Palestinians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.

Their data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.