A view of the damaged apartment in a residential building seen after an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza city, on Thursday (June 4, 2026).
| Photo Credit: AP

Israeli settlers holding national flags attend a rally near the Kharsina settlement to commemorate a settler killed in a Palestinian attack years ago.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Israel’s army said Saturday (October 4, 2025) that it would advance preparations for the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza and return all the remaining hostages.

The army said it was instructed by Israel’s leaders to “advance readiness” for the implementation of the plan. An official who was not authorised to speak to the media on the record said that Israel has moved to a defensive-only position in Gaza and will not actively strike. The official said no forces have been removed from the strip.

Also Read: Gaza peace plan LIVE | Updates on October 4, 2025

The announcement came hours after Mr. Trump ordered Israel to stop bombing Gaza once Hamas said it had accepted some elements of his plan. Mr. Trump welcomed the Hamas statement, saying: “I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE.”

Mr. Trump appears keen to deliver on pledges to end the war and return dozens of hostages ahead of the second anniversary of the attack on Tuesday (October 7, 2025). His proposal unveiled earlier this week has widespread international support and was also endorsed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Friday (October 3, 2025), Mr. Netanyahu’s office said Israel was committed to ending the war that began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, without addressing potential gaps with the militant group.

Mr. Netanyahu has come under increasing pressure from the international community and Mr. Trump to end the conflict. The official told the AP that Mr. Netanyahu put out the rare late-night statement on the sabbath saying that Israel has started to prepare for Mr. Trump’s plan due to pressure from the U.S. administration.

The official also said that a negotiating team was getting ready to travel, but there was no date specified.

A senior Egyptian official says talks are underway for the release of hostages, as well as hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention. The official, who is involved in the ceasefire negotiations, also said Arab mediators are preparing for a comprehensive dialogue among Palestinians. The talks are aimed at unifying the Palestinian position toward Gaza’s future.

On Saturday (October 4, 2025), the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second most powerful militant group in Gaza, said it accepted Hamas’ response to the Mr. Trump plan. The group had previously rejected the proposal days earlier.

Also, on Saturday (October 4, 2025), Gaza’s Health Ministry said that the death toll in the nearly two-year Israel-Hamas war has topped 67,000 Palestinians. The death toll jumped after the ministry said it added more than 700 names to the list whose data had been verified.

Gaza’s Health Ministry does not say how many were civilians or combatants. It says women and children make up around half the dead. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the UN and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

Progress, but uncertainty ahead

Yet, despite the momentum, a lot of questions remain.

Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages — around 20 of them believed to be alive — within three days. It would also give up power and disarm.

In return, Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from much of the territory, release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow an influx of humanitarian aid and eventual reconstruction.

Hamas 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. Its official statement also didn’t address the issue of Hamas demilitarising, a key part of the deal.

Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli general and chairman of Israel’s Defence and Security Forum, said while Israel can afford to stop firing for a few days in Gaza so the hostages can be released, it will resume its offensive if Hamas doesn’t lay down its arms.

Others say that while Hamas suggests a willingness to negotiate, its position fundamentally remains unchanged.

This “yes, but” rhetoric “simply repackages old demands in softer language,” said Oded Ailam, a researcher at the Jerusalem Centre for Security and Foreign Affairs. The gap between appearance and action is as wide as ever and the rhetorical shift serves more as a smoke screen than a signal of true movement toward resolution, he said.

Meanwhile, protests have erupted across Europe calling for an end to the war. On Saturday (October 4, 2025), tens of thousands of people marched in Barcelona, Spain, with demonstrations expected in Italy and Portugal.

Unclear what it means for Palestinians suffering in Gaza

The next steps for Palestinians in Gaza who are trying to piece together what it means in real terms are also unclear.

“What we want is practical implementation. … We want a truce on the ground,” said Samir Abdel-Hady, in Gaza’s Khan Younis. He worried that talks would break down like they’ve done in the past.

Israeli troops are still laying siege to Gaza City, which is the focus of its latest offensive. On Saturday (October 4, 2025) Israel’s army warned Palestinians against trying to return to the city calling it a “dangerous combat zone”.

Experts determined that Gaza City had slid into famine shortly before Israel launched its major offensive there aimed at occupying it. An estimated 4,00,000 people have fled the city in recent weeks, but hundreds of thousands more have stayed behind.

Families of the hostages are also cautious about being hopeful.

There are concerns from all sides, said Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod is held in Gaza. Hamas and Mr. Netanyahu could sabotage the deal or Mr. Trump could lose interest, he said. Still, he says, if it’s going to happen it will be because of Mr. Trump.

“We’re putting our trust in Mr. Trump, because he’s the only one who’s doing it. … And we want to see him with us until the last step,” he said.

Published – October 04, 2025 06:48 pm IST

Hamas said on Friday (October 3, 2025) it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signalled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details. 

Hamas reiterated its agreement to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independent technocrats. 

Senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera on Friday (October 3, 2025) the group would not disarm before the Israeli occupation ends, adding the issues over Gaza’s future should be discussed within a comprehensive Palestinian national framework which Hamas will be part of.

The official added that Hamas will enter negotiations on all issues related to the group and its arms.

Read the full story below

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On the eve of meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday (September 28, 2025) that Israel is working on a new ceasefire plan with the White House, but details are still being sorted out.

Mr. Netanyahu has come under heavy international pressure to end the war, especially during the ongoing offensive in Gaza City. The death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has topped 66,000 Palestinians, Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Sunday (September 28, 2025).

In Monday’s (September 29, 2025) White House meeting, Mr. Trump is expected to share a new proposal for ending the conflict.

“We’re working on it,” Mr. Netanyahu told Fox News Sunday’s “The Sunday Briefing.” “It’s not been finalised yet, but we’re working with President Trump’s team, actually as we speak, and I hope we can — we can make it a go.”

Arab officials briefed on the plan say the 21-point proposal calls for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages held by Hamas within 48 hours and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the proposal has not been formally announced.

Mr. Netanyahu has vowed to continue fighting until Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023, attack triggered the war, is destroyed. But he repeated an offer to allow Hamas operatives to leave Gaza as part of a deal ending the conflict.

“If they finish the war, release all the hostages, we let them out,” he said.

Growing international pressure on Israel

Mr. Trump has so far stood behind Israel. But the U.S. leader has shown signs of impatience lately, particularly after Israel struck the headquarters of Hamas’ political leadership in Doha, Qatar, earlier this month. Ceasefire talks have stalled since, despite growing international and domestic protests.

Key Western allies have joined a list of countries recognizing a Palestinian state over Israeli objections. The European Union is considering sanctions and there are growing moves for a sports and cultural boycott against Israel.

A defiant Netanyahu told fellow world leaders Friday at the UN General Assembly that his nation “must finish the job” against Hamas in Gaza, where 48 hostages are still held captive, around 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive.

Trump’s 21-point ceasefire plan

Mr Trump’s ceasefire proposal would include the release of all hostages within 48 hours and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian enclave, according to three Arab officials briefed on the plan. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing talks, said the proposal is not final and changes are highly likely.

Mr. Trump discussed the proposal with Arab leaders in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

A Hamas official said the group was briefed on the plan but has yet to receive an official offer from Egyptian and Qatari mediators. Hamas has said it is ready to “study any proposals positively and responsibly.” The official said the group had previously said it was willing to release all hostages in return for an end to the war and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the strip.

Nonstop explosions reported in Gaza

Local hospitals in central Gaza said at least 10 people were killed when at least two strikes hit homes in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said in its daily report the death toll has climbed to 66,005, with a further 168,162 wounded since the war started.

The ministry, part of the Hamas-run administration, does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its toll, but has said women and children make up around half the dead. Its figures are seen as a reliable estimate by the UN and many independent experts.

Residents reported hearing sounds of explosions overnight across the city, likely coming from the demolition of buildings through the detonation of explosive-laden vehicles and robots. “They were nonstop,” Sayed Baker, a Palestinian who shelters close to a Shifa hospital, said of the explosions.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes, but said it struck 140 Hamas military targets over the past 24 hours, including militants, observation equipment and infrastructure.

On Sunday (September 28, 2025), the military said it had struck a high-rise building in Gaza City after warning residents to evacuate. The strike levelled the 16-storey Macca tower. No casualties were reported.

The Israeli military said the building housed “military infrastructure belonging to Hamas.” It is the latest in a series of demolitions in recent weeks as Israel expands its offensive.

Israel’s offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displacing around 90% of the population amid a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts saying Gaza City is experiencing famine.

On Sunday (September 28, 2025), a 20-year-old Israeli soldier died of wounds sustained in an attack at a road junction near Nablus in the West Bank, and security forces shot dead the alleged attacker, the army said. The attack was praised by Hamas. Violence has surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which alongside Gaza and east Jerusalem was captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war and the Palestinians want for a future state.

Published – September 29, 2025 08:44 am IST

Paris:

The war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas, which on Wednesday agreed a ceasefire, has killed tens of thousands of people and created a humanitarian disaster.

The fragile ceasefire deal is due to start on Sunday, but still has to be approved by Israel’s cabinet.

The sheer scale of bombardment and violence of the fighting have disfigured the densely populated Palestinian territory’s urban landscape.

AFP looks at the material impact of the war.

170,000 Buildings Damaged Or Destroyed

Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on the planet. Before the war 2.4 million people lived on a 365-square-kilometre (140-square-mile) strip of land.

By December 1, 2024, nearly 69 percent of the buildings in Gaza had been destroyed or damaged, according to satellite imagery analysed by the UN’s Satellite Centre (UNOSAT). That amounts to 170,812 buildings.

US researchers Corey Scher and Jamon Van Den Hoek, who use satellite imagery with different methodology, counted 172,015 damaged or destroyed buildings in Gaza on January 11, 2025.

Hamas’s unprecedented October 7, 2023, attack on Israel resulted in the death of more than 1,200 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

That figure includes hostages killed while in captivity in the Gaza Strip.

Since October 7, 2023, at least 46,788 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, according to data provided by the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Those figures are acknowledged as reliable by the UN.

Rafah City Half Destroyed

Before the war, Gaza City in the territory’s north was home to some 600,000 people. Almost three-quarters of its buildings (74.2 percent) have been damaged or destroyed. 

In Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city along the border with Egypt, the Israeli army launched a ground offensive in early May.

By the end of that month, nearly 48.7 percent of the buildings in Rafah had been hit, against 33.9 percent the previous month.

Although relatively spared compared with Gaza City, burnt down facades and buildings stand testament to the scars of war.

Rights group Amnesty International said that more than 90 percent of the buildings along 58 square kilometres of Gaza’s border territory with Israel appear to have been “destroyed or severely damaged” between October 2023 and May 2024.

The United Nations has estimated that reconstruction in the territory would take up to 15 years and cost as much as $50 billion.

Half Of Hospitals Not Functioning

During the war, Gaza’s hospitals have been repeatedly attacked by Israel, which accused Hamas of using them for military purposes, a charge the group denies.

Kamal Adwan hospital, one of the few medical facilities still operational in northern Gaza, is now empty and out of service since a major Israeli strike in late December, according to the World Health Organization.

By December 31, just 18 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals, or half, were partially functioning, according to the WHO, with a total capacity of 1,800 beds.

Data from UNOSAT and geographic database OpenStreetMap also indicates that more than 83 percent of Gaza’s mosques have been damaged or destroyed.

Nearly 90 Percent Of Schools Damaged

The territory’s largely UN-run schools, where many civilians have sought refuge from the fighting, have also paid a heavy price, with the Israeli military accusing Hamas of using them to conceal fighters.

As of December 1, 2024, UNICEF counted 496 schools damaged — nearly 88 percent of its count of 564 facilities. There have been direct hits on 396 schools.

68 Percent Of Farmland

According to UN satellite imagery from August 26, 68 percent of Gaza’s farmland (103 square kilometres) has been damaged. That includes 79 percent of agricultural land in north Gaza and 57 percent of such land in Rafah.

The destruction of irrigation systems, orchards, machinery and barns is even greater, with between 80 percent and 96 percent “decimated” since the beginning of 2024, according to a report from the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in September.

In addition, 68 percent of Gaza’s road network has been damaged.

About 1,190 kilometres (740 miles) of roads have been destroyed, 415 kilometres badly damaged and 1,440 kilometres moderately damaged, according to a preliminary analysis by UNOSAT, taking into account data up to August 18.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

A general view of Tehran on October 26, 2024. Israel announced the launch of “precise strikes” on military targets in Iran on October 26, 2024, in retaliation for attacks against it, as Iranian state media reported several explosions around the capital.
| Photo Credit: AFP

India expressed deep concern about the unfolding situation in West Asia after Israel launched fresh attacks against Iran on Saturday (October 26, 2024), with the Ministry of External Affairs saying that the hostile situation does not help anyone.

“We are deeply concerned by the evolving escalation in West Asia and its ramifications for peace and stability in the region and beyond. We reiterate our call to all concerned to exercise restraint and return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy,” the MEA said, in a statement that came hours after Israel confirmed that it had carried out strikes against Iranian military targets.

The current situation in Gaza and Lebanon featured in India’s recent diplomatic outreaches, at the BRICS summit as well as during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interaction with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday (October 25, 2024).

Expat safety concerns

“The ongoing hostilities are to nobody’s benefit, even as innocent hostages and civilian populations continue to suffer. Our Missions in the region are in contact with the Indian community,” the MEA said. The Gulf region is home to around nine million expatriate Indian workers and professionals. They are largely based in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries but Iran too has a prosperous Indian community based mostly in Tehran and Bandar Abbas. The safety and security of these expat workers will be a major issue in case wider hostilities break out between Iran and Israel.

The Israeli attack has drawn stronger condemnation from Turkey and Saudi Arabia. In a strongly-worded statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry accused Israel of “committing genocide in Gaza”, saying, “We condemn Israel’s attack on Iran in the strongest terms.” Saudi Arabia also expressed its “condemnation and denunciation of the military targeting of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Palestinians perform Friday prayers at the ruins of a mosque destroyed in the Israeli military offensive, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, October 18, 2024.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Freedom of expression has been threatened more seriously in Gaza than in any recent conflict, with journalists targeted in the war-torn territory and Palestinian supporters targeted in many countries, a United Nations expert said on Friday (October 18, 2024).

Irene Khan, the U.N. independent investigator on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, pointed to attacks on the media and the targeted killings and arbitrary detention of dozens of journalists in Gaza.

“The banning of Al Jazeera, the tightening of censorship within Israel and in the occupied territories, seem to indicate a strategy of the Israeli authorities to silence critical journalism and obstruct the documentation of possible international crimes,” she said.

Ms. Khan also sharply criticized the “discrimination and double standards” that have seen restrictions and suppression of pro-Palestinian protests and speech. She cited bans in Germany and other European countries, protests that were “crushed harshly” on U.S. college campuses, and Palestinian national symbols and slogans prohibited and even criminalized in some countries.

The U.N. special rapporteur also pointed to “the silencing and sidelining of dissenting voices in academia and the arts”, with some of the best academic institutions in the world failing to protect all members of their community, “whether Jewish, Palestinian, Israeli, Arab, Muslim, or otherwise.” =While social media platforms have been a lifeline for communications to and from Gaza, Khan said, they have seen an upsurge in disinformation, misinformation and hate speech — with Arabs, Jews, Israelis and Palestinians all targeted online.

She stressed that Israel’s military actions in Gaza and its decades of occupation of Palestinian territories are matters of public interest, scrutiny and criticism.

Ms. Khan earlier presented her report on “the global crisis of freedom of expression arising from the conflict in Gaza” to the General Assembly’s Human Rights Committee.

She said Israel responded to it, explained the country’s laws, and “took the position that the conflict in Gaza was not really of global significance, and my mandate should not engage with it.” Israel’s U.N. mission declined to comment on her press briefing.

The surprise attacks in southern Israel led by Hamas militants who controlled Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, killed about 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and led to the abduction of about 250 others, around 100 of whom are still hostages. Israel’s military offensive in retaliation has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority were women and children.

Ms. Khan, a former Secretary-General of Amnesty International, stressed that “no conflict in recent times has threatened freedom of expression so seriously or so far beyond its borders than Gaza.” She said attacks on the media “are an attack on the right to information of people around the world who want to know what is happening there.” Ms. Khan said she has called on the U.N. General Assembly and Security Council to take measures to strengthen the protection of journalists “as essential civilian workers.” “Journalism should be seen as essential as humanitarian work,” she said.

The information industry has changed, Ms. Khan said, and the issue of access to conflict situations by international media representatives — who have been banned from Gaza by Israel — must also be affirmed. “It has to be clarified that it is not okay to just deny access to international media,” she said.

Without naming any countries, Khan asked why nations that pride themselves as champions of the media have been silent in the face of unprecedented attacks on journalists in Gaza and the West Bank.

“My main message is that what is happening in Gaza is sending signals around the world that it is okay to do these things because it’s happening in Gaza and Israel is enjoying absolute impunity — and others around the world will believe that there will be absolute impunity, too,” Ms. Khan said.

Displaced children draw at a school-turned shelter in Beirut, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, on October 15, 2024.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Strikes hit south Beirut on Wednesday (October 16, 2024), an AFP journalist saw, less than an hour after the Israeli military ordered residents to leave part of the Lebanese capital.

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Black smoke billowed from between buildings in Haret Hreik after the first strike, which followed Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee telling people to leave the area.

Moments later an AFP journalist witnessed a second strike in south Beirut.

“You are located near facilities and interests affiliated with Hezbollah, which the IDF (Israeli military) will work against in the near future” Adraee wrote in Arabic on X before the strikes, addressing Haret Hreik residents.

The Israeli military has repeatedly bombarded south Beirut in recent weeks, as well as carrying out deadly strikes elsewhere in the capital and across Lebanon.

At least 1,356 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel escalated its bombing last month, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, though the real toll is likely higher.