CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters): Israeli planes and tanks pounded areas across the Gaza Strip overnight and on Sunday, destroying several residential buildings, witnesses said, as Palestinians desperately awaited implementation of a US plan to end the war.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who had called for an end to the bombing, said on Saturday on his Truth Social platform that Israel had agreed to an "initial withdrawal line" inside Gaza and that "when Hamas confirms, the Ceasefire will be IMMEDIATELY effective."
The Israeli escalation comes as Egypt prepares to host delegates from Hamas, Israel and the United States, and Qatar, to kick off talks over the implementation of the most advanced effort yet to halt the conflict.
SENSITIVE ISSUES
Hamas had drawn a welcoming response from Trump on Friday by saying it accepted certain key parts of his 20-point peace proposal, including ending the war, Israel's withdrawal, and the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian captives.
But the group has left some issues subject to further negotiation, as well as questions unanswered, such as whether it would be willing to disarm, a key demand from Israel to end the war.
"Progress would depend on whether Hamas would agree to the map, which shows the Israeli army would remain in control of most of the Gaza Strip," said a Palestinian official, close to the talks.
"Hamas may also ask for a strict timetable for the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The first phase of talks will determine how things are going to proceed," he told Reuters, asking not to be named.
In Gaza City, which Israel describes as one of Hamas' last bastions, Israeli forces pressed ahead with attacks and warned residents who left against returning, saying it was a "dangerous combat zone."
On Sunday, witnesses said Israeli planes escalated attacks against targets across the city, Gaza's biggest urban centre.
This followed a tense night in which drones dropped grenades on the rooftops of residential buildings and troops blew up explosive-laden vehicles, demolishing dozens of houses in two Gaza City neighborhoods, Sabra and Sheikh Radwan.
WHERE IS TRUMP?
"Where is Trump in all of this?" said Rami Mohammad-Ali, 37, from Gaza City, now displaced in the city's western side, near the beach.
"The explosions don't stop, the drones drop bombs everywhere, as if nothing has happened. Where is the truce Trump told us about?" he asked.
Local health authorities said at least one Palestinian was killed, and several others were wounded in those attacks. Three other people were killed in separate Israeli strikes across the enclave, medics said.
Amjad Al-Shawa, head of the Palestinian NGOs Network, which liaises with the United Nations and international humanitarian organisations, said Gaza City has begun experiencing acute shortages of food and fuel, days after Israel blocked the route from the south to the north.
"We are speaking about tens of thousands of children who suffer malnutrition, the elderly who need extra care, those are in danger now because of the Israeli occupation blockade of Gaza City and the escalation of the attacks," Shawa told Reuters.
Under Trump's plan, all Israeli hostages, alive and deceased, were due to be released within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting the agreement.
But it was not clear at what precise point the clock on that 72-hour deadline would start ticking, given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to the timeline several days before Hamas responded.
Israel says 48 hostages remain, 20 of whom are alive.
There may be logistical challenges too. Sources close to Hamas told Reuters that handing over living hostages could prove relatively straightforward, but retrieving bodies of dead ones amid the huge devastation and rubble of Gaza may take longer than a few days to achieve.
Trump said on Friday he believed Hamas had shown it was "ready for a lasting PEACE" and he called on Netanyahu's government to halt airstrikes in Gaza.
Domestically, Netanyahu is caught between growing pressure to end the war - from hostage families and a war-weary public - and demands from hardline members of his coalition who insist there must be no let-up in Israel's campaign in Gaza. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on X that halting attacks on Gaza was a "grave mistake."
Smotrich and Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, also a hardliner, have significant influence in Netanyahu's government and have threatened to bring it down if the Gaza war ends.
Israel began attacking Gaza after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's campaign has killed more than 67,000 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities, and decimated the enclave.
(Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Lincoln Feast) - Reuters
