Gaza authorities on Saturday said Israel carried out dozens of air strikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s call to end bombardment after Hamas partially accepted a cease-fire deal. Israeli fire killed six people across Gaza Strip, local authorities said.
One strike killed four people in a house in Gaza City while another killed two others in Khan Younis in the south, medical workers and local authorities said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said early on Saturday that Israel was preparing for an "immediate implementation" of the first stage of Trump's Gaza plan for the release of Israeli hostages following Hamas' response.
Shortly after, Israeli media reported that the country's political echelon had instructed the military to reduce offensive activity in Gaza.
The Israeli military chief of staff instructed forces in a statement to advance readiness for the implementation of the first phase of Trump's plan, without mentioning whether there would be reduction of military activity in Gaza.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, responded to Trump's 20-point plan after the U.S. president gave the group until Sunday to accept or face grave consequences.
Trump, who has cast himself as the only person capable of achieving peace in Gaza, has invested significant political capital in efforts to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and left U.S. ally Israel increasingly isolated on the world stage.
Trump said on Friday he believed Hamas had shown it was "ready for a lasting PEACE" and he put the onus on Netanyahu's government.
"Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
"We are already in discussions on details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East."
Netanyahu's office said Israel "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."
Before Israel's latest announcements, families of those being held by Hamas in Gaza called on Netanyahu "to immediately order negotiations for the return of all hostages."
Domestically, the prime minister is caught between growing pressure to end the war - from hostage families and a war-weary public - and demands from hardline members of his far-right coalition who insist there must be no let-up in Israel's genocidal campaign in Gaza.
Since October 2023, Israeli bombardment has killed nearly 66,300 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The U.N. and rights groups have repeatedly warned that the enclave is being rendered uninhabitable, with starvation and disease spreading rapidly amid widespread displacement.
