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Gaza civil defence agency says Israeli airstrikes and shelling continue despite Trump’s appeal
William Christou
Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Saturday that Israel had carried out dozens of air strikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City despite Trump’s appeal, William Christou writes.
“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,” civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP. He said 20 homes were destroyed in the attacks.
Gaza City’s Baptist hospital said it had received casualties from a strike on a home in the city’s Tuffah neighbourhood, including four dead and several wounded while Nasser hospital in Khan Younis said two children were killed and eight people wounded in a drone strike on a tent in a camp for displaced Gazans.
Key events
There are protests across Europe today, with demonstrators calling for an end to the war. Tens of thousands of people marched in Barcelona, Spain, with demonstrations expected in Italy and Portugal too.
Police have begun arresting protesters at the Palestine Action rally in London. London and Manchester police called for protests to be delayed or cancelled after the terror attack on a synagogue in Manchester on Wednesday.
UN rights chief Volker Turk has called Trump’s Gaza plan a “vital opportunity” to stop bloodshed in the Palestinian territory “once and for all”.
Turk hopes the momentum from the US president’s plan will “pave the way for a permanent cessation of hostilities, followed by recovery and reconstruction,” his office said on X as it urged a resolution “in line with international human rights and humanitarian laws, and the much needed two-state solution”.
He called the plan 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.”
Reuters reports that Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a hardline ally of Hamas that also holds hostages, has endorsed the group’s response to a US plan to end the war in Gaza – a move that could help pave the way for the release of Israelis still held by both parties.
Hamas’s own acceptance of the deal on Friday triggered a chorus of optimistic statements by world leaders urging an immediate cessation of the deadliest conflict involving Israel since its creation in 1948, and demanding freedom for the Israelis still held in the enclave.
A further possible boost to hopes for peace came with a supportive statement from Iran-backed Islamic Jihad, which is smaller than Hamas but seen as more hardline.
‘We’re fed up with the war. We don’t want any revenge’
Efrat Machikawa, an active member of Israel’s hostage families forum and the niece of Gadi Moses, a hostage who was released in January, has been speaking about the need for an end to the war.
She said:
It’s time to end this horrific war and bring every single hostage back home. We are for rebuilding and the rehabilitation.
We’re fed up with the war. We don’t want any revenge. We want to concentrate on life.
Gaza death toll surpasses 67,000, health ministry says
The death toll in the nearly two-year Israel-Hamas war has passed 67,000 Palestinians, AP reported, citing Gaza’s health ministry.
The death toll jumped after the ministry said it added more than 700 names to the list after data had been verified.
It comes as Israel’s military said it is preparing for the first phase of a US plan to end the war in Gaza and return all of the remaining hostages.
From Genoa, Trieste and Ravenna in the north, to Salerno and Taranto in the south, in recent weeks port workers across Italy have succeeded in obstructing ships believed to have been carrying weapons for Israel, as opposition to the country’s war in Gaza intensifies, Angela Giuffrida writes.
The dockers’ determination to block weapons and stifle trade has been a crucial component of the pro-Palestinian uprising in Italy as pressure mounts on Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government to take a stronger stance against Israel.
Read the Guardian’s Rome correspondent’s full report at the link below:
In a post on X, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said it’s now time for Israel to “stand together” to secure the return of all remaining hostages from Gaza.
We are in decisive days for a deal—days that will determine when the living hostages return for rehabilitation and the deceased return for proper burial.
This is the hour when all of Israel must stand together and demand loudly: do everything possible to bring our brothers and sisters home.
The square is where we can all send a clear message together: Bring them all home and end the war! We will not stop until the last hostage returns. This is the time, the place, and the moment to prove that nothing is stronger than Israeli solidarity.
Here are some of the latest images coming out of Israel and Gaza:
Who director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement posted on X that the World Health Organization welcomed Trump’s Gaza plan.
“WHO welcomes the peace plan for #Gaza proposed by @POTUS and supported by other countries for an immediate end to the war, the release of all hostages, the resumption of humanitarian aid, reconstruction, including of hospitals, peaceful and prosperous coexistence for Palestinians and Israelis The best medicine is peace.”
Here’s some more reaction from leaders to Donald Trump calling for Israel to stop bombing Gaza and Hamas accepting key points of a ceasefire plan:
In a statement late last night, UK prime minister Keir Starmer said: “Hamas’ acceptance of the US peace plan is a significant step forwards. We strongly support president Trump’s efforts, which have brought us closer to peace than ever before. There is now an opportunity to end the fighting, for the hostages to return home, and for humanitarian aid to reach those who so desperately need it.”
German chancellor Friedrich Merz said: “The hostages must be released. Hamas must disarm. The fighting must cease immediately. All of this must happen very fast. After almost two years, this is the best chance for peace. Germany will continue to engage.”
Irish foreign minister Simon Harris said: “This moment to end the unconscionable human suffering must be grasped by all. Stop the bombing, silence the guns, end the famine and allow a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza.”
Jordan also welcomed Hamas’ positive response to Trump’s plan, calling it an important step to end the Gaza war, a ministry statement said, Reuters reports. Amman also praised Egypt and Qatar’s mediation, highlighted US efforts including opposition to West Bank annexation, and called for an immediate halt to Israel’s offensive, the opening of crossings for aid, and a peace process based on a two-state solution.
An Israeli official has told AP that Israel has moved to a defensive-only position in Gaza and will not actively strike. The official, who was not authorised to speak to the media on the record, said no forces have been removed from the strip.
The Israeli army said it was instructed by Israel’s leaders to “advance readiness” for the implementation of Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan.
Earlier it was reported Israel struck Gaza overnight, killing at least six.
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