Israel – Hamas War: Gazans Live between Hope and Despair over Trump Peace Plan
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 4: Even as the Palestinians in Gaza are hoping for a new dawn and the UN Rights chief Volker Turk termed the US President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza Peace Plan a “vital opportunity to end the two-year old war, Israel struck Gaza on Saturday killing six people after Mr Trump called Israel for a halt to the bombing and said Hamas was ready for peace, agreeing to release hostages and accepting some other terms in a US plan to end the war.
While one Israeli 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.
Palestinians in Gaza have seen decades of conflict and ruin, but remained hopeful on Saturday that the US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end the ongoing two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
UN rights chief Volker Turk on Saturday said U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan was a “vital opportunity” to stop bloodshed and misery in the Palestinian territory “once and for all.” “This is a vital opportunity for all parties and influential states to pursue in good faith and stop — once and for all — the carnage and the suffering in Gaza, to flood the strip with humanitarian aid, and to ensure the release of the hostages and numerous detained Palestinians,” his office said on X.
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.
Soon after Israel said its troops were still operating in Gaza and warned residents not to return, despite calls from the families of Israeli hostages and U.S. President Donald Trump for an immediate halt to the fighting. Despite Mr Trump’s appeal, Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israel carried out dozens of attacks on Gaza City overnight, with nearby hospitals reporting casualties.
“It was a very violent night, during which the (Israeli army) carried out dozens of air strikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City and other areas in the Strip, despite President Trump’s call to halt the bombing,” spokesman Mahmud Bassal, whose agency is a rescue force which operates under Hamas authority, said. He claimed that 20 homes were destroyed overnight.
Hamas, the Palestinian 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 the war that has 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 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 67,000 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.
Trump posted a video message thanking all the countries that helped broker the ‘peace’ in the Middle East. “I want to thank the countries for helping me put this together – Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and so many others. So many people fought so hard. This is a big day. We’ll see how it all turns out. We have to get the final word down and concrete.
“Very importantly, I look forward to having the hostages come home to their parents. Some of the hostages – unfortunately, you know the condition they’re in – come home likewise to their parents because their parents wanted them just as much as though that young man or young woman were alive,” he said.
The Republican leader, calling it a “very special day,” said, “It is unprecedented. But thank you all and the countries that helped. We were given a tremendous amount of help. Everybody was unified in wanting this war to end and seeing peace in the Middle East. We are very close to achieving that. Thank you all, and everybody will be treated fairly.”
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday praised US President Donald Trump for his peace efforts in Gaza, hours after Hamas accepted parts of Trump’s 20-point peace plan. “We welcome President Trump’s leadership as peace efforts in Gaza make decisive progress. Indications of the release of hostages mark a significant step forward. India will continue to strongly support all efforts towards a durable and just peace,” PM Modi said in a post on X.
Mr Modi earlier this week had backed Trump’s Gaza peace plan, saying it provided a viable pathway to long-term and sustainable peace for both Palestinian and Israeli people. “We welcome President Donald J. Trump’s announcement of a comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict. It provides a viable pathway to long-term and sustainable peace, security, and development for the Palestinian and Israeli people, as also for the larger West Asian region.
“We hope that all concerned will come together behind President Trump’s initiative and support this effort to end conflict and secure peace,” he wrote on X. The PM’s endorsement was later reshared by Trump on his Truth Social platform, without adding any words of his own.
Hamas on Friday night accepted certain parts of Trump’s Gaza peace plan, including ending the war, Israel’s withdrawal, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian captives, aid and recovery efforts, and opposition to Palestinian expulsion from the territory – hours after the Republican leader had issued an ultimatum to the Palestinian group to accept his peace plan by Sunday, 6 pm (US time) or face “all hell.”
Hamas has said it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians. Senior Hamas officials suggested there were still major disagreements that required further negotiations.
Gazans hope that the new dawn will mean the end of wars in the region that have only brought ruin, death and starvation for the population. “If this chance is lost…’
We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war. If this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel, and we might not survive. Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” 40-year-old Ismail Zayda said.
“God willing, this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza; it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in the central Gaza Strip.
But there were pessimists also. “Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” 31-year-old Aya, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, said.
