Displaced Palestinians flee northern Gaza carrying their belongings alongside the coastal street close to Wadi Gaza, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025.
Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
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Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Hamas stated Friday that it has accepted some parts of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to finish the battle within the Gaza Strip, together with giving up energy and releasing all remaining hostages, however that others require additional consultations amongst Palestinians.
The assertion got here hours after Trump stated that Hamas should conform to the deal by Sunday night, threatening a fair higher army onslaught practically two years into the battle sparked by the Oct. 7 assault into Israel. It was unclear how the U.S. and Israel would reply to partial acceptance.
Hamas stated it was prepared to launch hostages in keeping with the plan’s “formula,” doubtless referring to the discharge of Palestinian prisoners. It additionally reiterated its longstanding openness to handing energy over to a politically impartial Palestinian physique.
But it surely stated elements of the proposal referring to the way forward for the Gaza Strip and Palestinian rights must be selected the idea of a “unanimous Palestinian stance” reached with different factions and primarily based on worldwide regulation.
The assertion additionally made no point out of Hamas disarming, a key Israeli demand included in Trump’s proposal.
Trump’s plan would finish the combating and return hostages
Trump seems eager to ship on pledges to finish the battle and return dozens of hostages forward of the second anniversary of the assault on Tuesday. His peace plan has been accepted by Israel and welcomed internationally, however key mediators Egypt and Qatar have additionally stated some parts want additional negotiation, with out elaborating.
“An Agreement must be reached with Hamas by Sunday Evening at SIX (6) P.M., Washington, D.C. time,” Trump wrote Friday on social media. “Every Country has signed on! If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas. THERE WILL BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.”
Beneath the plan, which Trump unveiled earlier this week alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas would instantly launch the remaining 48 hostages — round 20 of them believed to be alive. It will additionally hand over energy and disarm.
In return, Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from a lot of the territory, launch lots of of Palestinian prisoners and permit an inflow of humanitarian support and eventual reconstruction. Plans to relocate a lot of Gaza’s inhabitants to different international locations could be shelved.
The territory of some 2 million Palestinians could be positioned beneath worldwide governance, with Trump himself and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair overseeing it. The plan supplies no path for eventual reunification with the Israeli-occupied West Financial institution in a future Palestinian state.
A Hamas official informed The Related Press this week that some parts of the plan are unacceptable and must be amended, with out elaborating. Palestinians lengthy for an finish to the battle, however many view this and former U.S. proposals as strongly favoring Israel.
U.S. and Israel search to strain Hamas
Israel has sought to ramp up strain on Hamas since ending an earlier ceasefire in March. It sealed the territory off from meals, drugs and different items for two 1/2 months and has seized, flattened and largely depopulated massive areas of the territory.
Consultants decided that Gaza Metropolis had slid into famine shortly earlier than Israel launched a serious offensive geared toward occupying it. An estimated 400,000 folks have fled the town in current weeks, however lots of of 1000’s extra have stayed behind.
Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the U.N. humanitarian workplace, stated she noticed a number of displaced households staying within the car parking zone of Shifa Hospital throughout a go to on Thursday.
“They are not able to move south because they just cannot afford it,” Cherevko informed The Related Press. “One of the families had three children and the woman was pregnant with her fourth. And there were many other vulnerable cases there, including elderly people and people with disabilities.”
Trump wrote that almost all of Hamas’ fighters are “surrounded and MILITARILY TRAPPED, just waiting for me to give the word, ‘GO,’ for their lives to be quickly extinguished. As for the rest, we know where and who you are, and you will be hunted down, and killed.”
Most of Hamas’ high leaders in Gaza and 1000’s of its fighters have already been killed, however it nonetheless has affect in areas not managed by the Israeli army and launches sporadic assaults which have killed and wounded Israeli troopers.
Hamas has held agency to its place that it’s going to solely launch the remaining hostages — its sole bargaining chip and potential human shields — in trade for an enduring ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. Netanyahu has rejected these phrases, saying Hamas should give up and disarm.
Second anniversary approaches
Hundreds of Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, attacking military bases, farming communities and an outside music pageant, killing some 1,200 folks, principally civilians. They kidnapped 251 others, most of them since launched in ceasefires or different offers.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed greater than 66,000 Palestinians, in keeping with Gaza’s Well being Ministry, which doesn’t say what number of have been civilians or combatants. It says ladies and youngsters make up round half the lifeless.
The ministry is a part of the Hamas-run authorities, and the U.N. and lots of impartial consultants contemplate its figures to be probably the most dependable estimate of wartime casualties.
The offensive has displaced round 90% of Gaza’s inhabitants, typically a number of instances, and left a lot of the territory uninhabitable.
Each the Biden and Trump administrations have tried to finish the combating and produce again the hostages whereas offering in depth army and diplomatic help to Israel.
