Israel strikes Gaza after Trump calls for end to bombardment

Israel struck Gaza on Saturday, local authorities said, after US President Donald Trump had called for a halt to the bombing and said Hamas is ready for peace, agreeing to release hostages and accepting some other terms in a US plan to end the war. 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.

Buildings that were destroyed during the Israeli ground and air operations are engulfed by smoke following an Israeli military strike in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday. AP

Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls Gaza, responded to Trump's 20-point plan after the US 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 US 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."

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in Israeli strikes in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday. Reuters

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 campaign in Gaza.

Israel began its offensive in Gaza after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken as hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel says 48 hostages remain, 20 of whom are alive.

Israel's military campaign has killed more than 66,000 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities. Its assault has destroyed much of the strip while aid restrictions have triggered a famine in parts of Gaza, with conditions dire across the enclave.

Reuters