The Israeli military has been ordered to halt its campaign on Gaza City by its political leadership, Israeli army radio reported on Saturday, while it was preparing for the first phase of Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza and release all hostages.
In a statement, the Israeli military said it was directed to “advance readiness” for the first part of the Trump plan. Army radio reported that operations in Gaza to be reduced to “the minimum” with troops meant only to carry out defensive strikes.
The orders came as the US president, Donald Trump, demanded Israel stop bombing Gaza late on Friday night after welcoming Hamas’s partial acceptance of his proposal to end the nearly two-year war in Gaza.
Despite Trump’s demands, Israel continued striking the Gaza Strip and besieging Gaza City on Saturday.
At least six Palestinian civilians, including two children, were killed in Israeli strikes on a house in Gaza City and a tent housing displaced people in al-Mawasi. Drones also targeted a gathering of people near a bakery in central Gaza City, killing “dozens” of people, according to Wafa, the Palestinian news agency.
Israeli military Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned residents not to return to northern Gaza or Gaza City, where Israeli troops are still operating, in a post on X on Saturday morning.
Hamas agreed to release all 48 remaining hostages and surrender governing power of the Gaza Strip, while calling for negotiations on other parts of the proposal. Trump said that based on Hamas’s response, it was ready for peace.
The office of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Friday that Israel was committed to ending the war in Gaza. After Trump’s approval of Hamas’s acceptance, the prime minister will face pressure to implement the plan, which met with widespread approval internationally and in Israel.
Israeli opposition politician Yair Lapid said on Friday night that the Trump plan was a “genuine opportunity to release the hostages and end the war” and that he would back Netanyahu politically to engage in further negotiations to finalise the deal.
Israeli negotiating teams have been instructed to prepare to resume talks today to implement the first part of Trump’s plan, according to Israeli media.
While many details of the plan and its final implementation remained unclear, momentum seemed to be building towards reaching a deal. The positive statements by both Hamas and Trump indicated that the possibility of an end to the war in Gaza was closer than in recent months, though previous ceasefire efforts have collapsed in the negotiation phase even with significant momentum behind them.
A senior Hamas official told Agence France-Presse on Saturday that Egypt was organising a conference for Palestinian factions to decide on the post-war future of the Gaza Strip, which Hamas had outlined as the way forward on the Trump plan.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a hardline militant group aligned with Hamas, said it was on board with Hamas’s response to the Trump plan. In a statement, PIJ said Hamas’s reply “represents the position of the Palestinian resistance factions”.
The support of PIJ, which holds Israeli hostages, is a key signal that Hamas has the backing of other militant groups within Gaza to move forward with the Trump plan.
Trump’s 20-point plan calls for an immediate end to fighting in Gaza; the release of the remaining 48 Israeli hostages being held in Gaza within 72 hours in exchange for over 1,000 Palestinian political prisoners; the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza; the disarmament of Hamas and a transitional authority of the strip led by Trump himself.
The plan also called for a surge of aid to Gaza, parts of which are undergoing famine due to an Israeli blockade on the territory, and the reconstruction of the devastated strip.
Hamas’s reply to the Trump plan notably did not mention anything about laying down arms, an issue that presumably will have to be resolved in future negotiations.
The Trump plan is largely seen as unfavourable to Hamas. Israel, in turn, has to give few concessions. However, Palestinians in Gaza are desperate to see an end to fighting after nearly two years of devastating bombing, hunger and displacement.
Israel’s war in Gaza has killed at least 67,074 Palestinians and wounded about 170,000 according to the Gaza health authority, which says the majority of those killed were civilians. Israel launched the war after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.
A UN commission of inquiry, as well as the world’s leading association of scholars on genocide, have concluded that Israeli has committed genocide in Gaza. Israel denies the claim, saying it has only acted in self-defence.
