- “Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE,” Trump said
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) has been ordered to halt offensive operations in Gaza City amid a push by US President Donald Trump to bring about an end to the war, The Times of Israel has confirmed.
However, the military is still carrying out defensive operations, and the IDF said earlier that Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir instructed troops to “remove any threat.”
Palestinian media reports that some strikes are ongoing
Four Palestinians are killed in a strike in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, and artillery shelling was carried out in an area north of Bureij in central Gaza and in the Khan Younis area in the Strip’s south, according to Palestinian media.
The IDF overnight put out a statement saying “per the order of the political echelon,” Zamir instructed troops to gear up “for the implementation of the first stage of Trump’s plans to free the hostages,” without detailing what the order entailed, after meeting with top generals for “a special situational assessment in light of the developments.”
US President Donald Trump late Friday called on Israel to “immediately stop bombing Gaza” after Hamas responded to his peace plan to the end war.
“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 said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
The US president added that this was not about Gaza alone. “This is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East,” he added.
Trump’s comments came shortly after Hamas delivered its response to his 20-point peace plan, which garnered public approval from dozens of countries, including leading Arab and Muslim nations.
Trump pledged in a brief video Friday that all sides would be treated fairly in Gaza talks, as he hailed Hamas’s apparent agreement to free hostages as a “special day.”
“Everybody will be treated fairly,” Trump said in the message lasting just over a minute, which was posted on Truth. “This is a very special day, maybe unprecedented.”
In a statement, Hamas welcomed the plan but requested additional clarifications on some of its points, raising questions about whether it approved the draft or not. The group said it would agree to release all Israeli hostages, both living and dead, and affirmed that it was ready to immediately engage, via mediators, to discuss the plan.
Hamas also said it would agree to hand over rule of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body made up of independent technocrats. Still, it made no mention of disarming, which is a key US and Israeli demand.
Trump earlier Friday provided a deadline for Hamas to answer by Sunday or else ”all HELL” would break out.
Qatar welcomed the announcement by Hamas of its agreement to Trump’s plan. “We also affirm our support for the statements made by the President calling for an immediate ceasefire to facilitate the safe and swift release of hostages, and to achieve rapid results that would put an end to the bloodshed of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” Doha said in a statement from its Foreign Ministry.
Qatar added that it had begun working with Egypt and Washington to continue discussions on the plan to end the war.
Egypt said it hoped the positive developments would lead all parties to implement the plan.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the of all hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza were now within reach. “ Hamas’ commitment must be followed up without delay,” he said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was encouraged by the response from Hamas and urged all parties to “seize the opportunity” to bring the Gaza war to an end.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has been a critic of the way Israel has waged its war, said the war must end. “Too many people have been killed and injured, and peace is badly needed,” she said posting the Hamas response to Trump’s plan.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch defender of the way Israel has conducted the war and a close ally of Trump, said the Hamas response was “in essence, a rejection by Hamas” of Trump’s plan.
Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat, said he was an “unapologetic supporter of Israel.” But he hailed Trump in a post on X: ”Politics aside, credit to @POTUS’ peace plan to get to this encouraging point.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not regard Hamas’s response to the Trump proposal as positive, Channel 12 reports, citing people in Netanyahu’s circle.
“They see it mainly as a negative response,” the report says. “But they are going along with Trump’s efforts because they see no other option.”
Channel 12 reports that people close to Netanyahu are briefing that the prime minister was surprised by Trump’s immensely positive response to what was a conditional and ambiguous Hamas acceptance of his September 29 proposal.
But the report also notes that Netanyahu has a political interest in being seen to be consenting to move ahead reluctantly, rather than enthusiastically, given his coalition’s two far-right parties’ firm opposition to ending the war.
The report notes that the fact that Trump has already pressed Israel into halting its offensive operations in Gaza means that Israel has an interest in quickly finalizing the vital first stage of the deal, which provides for the release of all hostages in the first 72 hours of the agreement — both because Israel wants those hostages freed and because it would want to resume offensive operations right away if Hamas reneges or plays for time.
Channel 12 says the assessment in Israel is that Hamas is likely to raise objections and seek assurances regarding further elements of the agreement, notably regarding post-war Gaza, during the soon-to-be-convened talks on the initial phase of hostage releases and IDF withdrawals, and that this is likely to “further complicate the process.”
Written with reports from Reuters, The Times of Israel, Alarabiya
