Hamas has not received US President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan, the Palestinian group which runs the enclave said yesterday as Israeli forces expanded their assault on Gaza City.
The comments came after Israeli newspaper Haaretz cited sources saying Hamas had agreed in principle to release all the Israeli hostages it holds in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops under Trump’s plan.
Also included in the proposal were the end of Hamas rule in Gaza, and Israel agreeing not to annex the territory and drive out Palestinians living there, Haaretz reported.
“Hamas has not been presented with any plan,” a Hamas official who asked not to be named told Reuters.
In his comments to reporters on Friday in which he said “it’s looking like we have a deal on Gaza”, Trump offered no details of its contents and gave no timetable. Israel has not yet made any public response to Trump’s comments.
Trump is due on Monday to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who heads a hard-right governing coalition opposed to ending the Gaza war until Hamas is destroyed.
Trump also said on Friday talks on Gaza with Middle Eastern nations were intense and would continue as long as required.
His special envoy Steve Witkoff said the US president had presented proposals to the leaders of multiple Muslim-majority countries this week that included a 21-point Middle East peace plan.
In Gaza, meanwhile, the fighting continued.
The Israeli military said its aircraft struck 120 targets across the strip over the past day as troops pressed deeper into Gaza City.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said 74 people were killed in Gaza in the last 24 hours.
In a post on social media platform X, the military’s Arabic spokesman repeated calls for Gaza City residents to evacuate.
The UN World Food Programme estimates that some 350,000-400,000 Palestinians have left since Israel began its expanded ground offensive in Gaza City a couple of weeks ago, but hundreds of thousands remain.
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres said late on Friday it had been forced to suspend its medical activities in Gaza City because its clinics were encircled by Israeli forces.
The group said the move was the “last thing” it wanted, saying that vulnerable people such as infants in neonatal care and people with life-threatening illnesses are unable to move and are in grave danger.
Four health facilities in Gaza City have shut down so far this month, according to the World Health Organisation, and the UN says some malnutrition centres have also closed.
Israel began its assault on Gaza nearly two years ago after an attack led by Hamas killed about 1,200 people, with 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, Israeli forces have killed more than 65,000 Palestinians in the enclave, according to Gaza’s health authorities, displaced the entire population, and crippled the territory’s health system.
A global hunger monitor says famine has taken hold in parts of Gaza, while multiple rights experts say Israel’s conduct in the war amounts to genocide.
Israel strongly denies this, saying the war is in self-defence.
New Zealand will not recognise a Palestinian state at this time but remains committed to a two-state solution, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said.
“With a war raging, Hamas remaining the de facto government of Gaza, and no clarity on next steps, too many questions remain about the future state of Palestine for it to be prudent for New Zealand to announce recognition at this time,” Peters said in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday.
“We are also concerned that a focus on recognition, in the current circumstances, could complicate efforts to secure a ceasefire by pushing Israel and Hamas into even more intransigent positions,” Peters added.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said in Auckland yesterday that “recognition of Palestinian statehood is a question of when, not if”.
New Zealand’s position is out of step with traditional partners Australia, Canada and Britain who all recognised a Palestinian state last Sunday.
The move aligned them with more than 140 other countries also backing Palestinians’ aspiration to forge an independent homeland from the occupied territories.
A handout from the New Zealand government on Friday said that it hoped to recognise a Palestinian state at a time when the situation on the ground offers greater prospects for peace and negotiation than at present.
New Zealand’s opposition Labour Party criticised the decision and said it would put the country on the wrong side of history.
Labour foreign affairs spokesperson Peeni Henare said New Zealand will feel let down by the government today.
“There is no two-state solution or enduring peace in the Middle East without recognition of Palestine as a state,” Henare said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez that Türkiye will continue efforts to stop Israeli attacks in Gaza and ensure the uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, Erdogan’s office said yesterday.
“Our president expressed satisfaction with Prime Minister Sanchez’s sensitivity regarding the Sumud aid flotilla and said Türkiye is closely monitoring the situation,” it said, referring to the international aid flotilla aiming to break an Israeli naval embargo on Gaza.
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