DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Hamas said on Saturday it has not received any Gaza ceasefire plan from U.S. President Donald Trump, as Israeli forces widened their offensive in Gaza City amid mounting casualties and international pressure for a truce.
The statement followed a report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz claiming that Hamas had agreed in principle to release all Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops, under a proposal linked to Trump. The report also said the plan included ending Hamas rule in Gaza and an Israeli commitment not to annex the territory or expel its Palestinian residents.
“Hamas has not been presented with any plan,” a Hamas official, who requested anonymity, told Reuters.
Trump, speaking to reporters on Friday, said “it’s looking like we have a deal on Gaza,” but provided no details or timeline. Israel has yet to publicly respond. Trump is scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. Netanyahu, who leads a hard-right coalition, has repeatedly vowed that the Gaza war will not end until Hamas is destroyed.
Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said the U.S. president had shared proposals this week with leaders of several Muslim-majority nations as part of a broader 21-point Middle East peace plan. Trump said negotiations would continue “as long as required.”
Meanwhile, fighting in Gaza escalated. The Israeli military reported striking 120 targets across the enclave in the past 24 hours, as troops advanced deeper into Gaza City. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 74 people were killed in the same period.
In a post on X, the military’s Arabic-language spokesman again urged Gaza City residents to evacuate. The U.N. World Food Programme estimates that 350,000 to 400,000 people have already fled the city since Israel launched its expanded ground offensive two weeks ago, though hundreds of thousands remain.
Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) announced Friday it was suspending operations in Gaza City after its facilities were encircled by Israeli forces. The group described the decision as the “last thing” it wanted, warning that vulnerable patients, including premature infants and those with life-threatening illnesses, could not be moved and faced extreme danger.
The World Health Organization said four health facilities in Gaza City have closed this month, and U.N. agencies reported that several malnutrition centers have also shut down.
According to Gaza’s health authorities, more than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its offensive nearly two years ago, launched in response to a Hamas-led attack that killed about 1,200 people and left 251 taken hostage, by Israeli tallies. The war has displaced Gaza’s entire population and devastated its health system. International monitors warn that famine has already taken hold in parts of the enclave.
Israel rejects accusations from rights groups and U.N. experts that its campaign amounts to genocide, insisting it is acting in self-defense.
On Saturday, health officials reported at least 59 more Palestinian deaths from Israeli strikes and gunfire across Gaza. In the Nuseirat refugee camp, nine members of one family were killed in a house strike, followed later by another attack that killed 15, including women and children, according to staff at al-Awda Hospital. Five others died when a strike hit a tent sheltering displaced families, Nasser Hospital said.
The Israeli army said it was not aware of gunfire-related deaths in southern Gaza on Saturday, nor of an airstrike in the Nuseirat area at the reported time and location.
At Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, director Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya told The Associated Press that Israeli tanks were approaching the facility, severely restricting access. “The bombardment has not stopped for a single moment,” he said.
Dr. Nasser Bulbul, head of neonatal intensive care at Helou Hospital, reported that 14 premature babies remained in incubators, but the facility’s main gate had been closed due to drones circling overhead.
Edgardo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
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