A U.S.-sponsored ceasefire proposal for Gaza on Tuesday (September 30, 2025) was hanging on Hamas’s response to the 20-point plan which President Donald Trump has said was “beyond very close” to ending the two-year-old conflict in the enclave.

Mediators Qatar and Egypt shared the document with Hamas late on Monday (September 29, 2025) after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood alongside Trump at the White House and pledged his support for the proposal because he said it met Israel’s war aims.

Hamas was not involved in the negotiations that led to Mr. Trump’s plan, which calls on the Islamist militant group to disarm, a demand it has previously rejected.

A source close to Hamas told Reuters the plan was “completely biased to Israel” and imposed “impossible conditions” that aimed to eliminate the group.

However, an official briefed on the talks told Reuters early on Tuesday (September 30, 2025) that Hamas negotiators “would review it in good faith and provide a response”.

Hamas faces pressure from Muslim nations

Mr. Trump warned Hamas that if it rejected his offer, Israel would have full U.S. support to take whatever action it deemed necessary.

The plan specifies an immediate ceasefire, an exchange of all hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, a staged Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and the introduction of a transitional government led by an international body.

Many elements of the 20 points have been included in numerous ceasefire deals proposed over the last two years, including those accepted and then subsequently rejected at various stages by both Israel and Hamas.

One of Hamas’s main conditions since the outset of the war has been a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in return for the release of the remaining hostages. And while the group has indicated its readiness to relinquish administrative authority, it has consistently ruled out disarming.

“What Trump has proposed is the full adoption of all Israeli conditions, which do not grant the Palestinian people or the residents of the Gaza Strip any legitimate rights,” a Palestinian official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.

However, Hamas faces considerable pressure to accept the plan, with the Foreign Ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Egypt all welcoming the initiative.

Turkey’s head of intelligence will join Qatari and Egyptian mediators in Doha to discuss the peace proposal later on Tuesday (September 30, 2025), a spokesperson for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said. Turkey has not previously been involved as a key mediator during efforts over the last two years to bring peace to Gaza.

It was unclear if Hamas officials would join Tuesday’s (September 30, 2025) meeting. The last time Hamas leaders gathered to discuss a U.S. peace plan in Qatar, Israel tried, and failed, to kill them with a missile strike.

Mr. Netanyahu apologised on Monday (September 29, 2025)) to his Qatari counterpart for the September 9 attack, the White House said.

Although he initially backed the Trump plan, Mr. Netanyahu later expressed doubts about elements of the proposal, including the prospects for eventual Palestinian Statehood — something he has repeatedly ruled out.

Mr. Netanyahu is under mounting pressure from a war-weary Israeli public to end the conflict. But he also risks the collapse of his governing coalition if far-right Ministers believe he has made too many concessions for a peace deal.

Israeli forces push further into Gaza city

In Gaza itself, some Palestinians hailed Mr. Trump’s peace plan, saying it could end the bombardment and deaths, but they wondered whether it would end Israel’s control of the enclave.

“We want the war to end, but we want the occupation army that killed tens of thousands of us to get out and leave us alone,” said Salah Abu Amr, 60, a father of six from Gaza City.

“We hope the plan will end the war, but we are not sure it will. Neither Mr. Trump nor Mr. Netanyahu can be trusted,” he told Reuters via a chat app.

Israel began its Gaza offensive after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken as hostages back to Gaza. The offensive has killed over 66,000 people in Gaza, Gaza health authorities say.

Israeli forces pushed deeper into Gaza City on Tuesday (September 30, 2025), reaching the centre of the territory, which Mr. Netanyahu has described as the last Hamas bastion.

Israeli planes also dropped new leaflets over the city ordering Palestinians to immediately leave and head south.

“The battle against Hamas is decisive and will not end until it is defeated,” the leaflet said in red writing.

Published – October 01, 2025 11:04 am IST

Five people were killed and 20 wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, the medics reported. File
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

At least 10 people were killed and more than a dozen wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza early on Thursday (December 26, 2024), medics with the Gaza Health authorities said.

Five people were killed and 20 wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, the medics reported. They warned the death toll could rise as many remained trapped under the rubble.

In a separate incident, five journalists were killed when their vehicle was struck in the vicinity of Al-Awda hospital in Nuseirat in central Gaza, the enclave’s health authorities said. The journalists worked for the Al-Quds Al-Youm television channel.

Palestinian media and local reporters said the vehicle was marked as a media van and was used by journalists to report from inside the hospital and Nuseirat camp.

There was no immediate Israeli comment on the reported strikes.

On Wednesday (December 25, 2024), Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel traded blame over their failure to conclude a ceasefire agreement despite progress reported by both sides in past days.

A member of the Palestinian security forces looks out from a vehicle as they patrol amid clashes with militants at the camp, in Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on Saturday (December 14, 2024).
| Photo Credit: Reuters

“At least one person was killed as Palestinian security forces clashed with Palestinian militants and set up checkpoints on Saturday (December 14, 2024) in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin,” residents and medics said.

Gunshots and explosions could be heard in the city, where friction has risen in recent days between militant factions and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas following raids by the PA.

Residents identified the man who was killed as a militant though none of the factions immediately confirmed his affiliation.

The PA’s security branch said in a statement that its forces were undertaking a security operation to restore law and order to Jenin’s historic refugee camp suburb, a stronghold of Palestinian militants alienated from the Palestinian leadership.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has been fighting Israeli forces in Gaza for more than a year, condemned the PA for the Jenin operation and its allied group Islamic Jihad called for a day of protests.

Jenin has also been a hotbed of conflict between the Palestinian militant groups and the Israeli military in recent years. Since March 2022, Jenin and outlying areas in the north of the West Bank have drawn intensified Israeli raids after a spate of Palestinian street attacks.

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said Sunday (December 1, 2024) it is halting aid deliveries through the main cargo crossing into Gaza because of the threat of armed gangs who have looted recent convoys.

The decision could worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as the cold, rainy winter sets in, with hundreds of thousands of people living in squalid tent camps and reliant on international food aid. Experts were already warning of famine in the territory’s north, which Israeli forces have almost completely isolated since early October.

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, the main aid provider in Gaza, said the route leading to the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel is too dangerous on the Gaza side. Armed men looted nearly 100 trucks travelling on the route in mid-November, and he said gangs stole a smaller shipment on Saturday (November 30, 2024).

Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip killed at least six people overnight, including two young children who died in the tent where their family was sheltering, medical officials said Sunday (December 1, 2024).

The strike in the Muwasi area, a sprawling tent camp housing hundreds of thousands of displaced people, also wounded the children’s mother and their sibling, according to the nearby Nasser Hospital. An Associated Press reporter at the hospital saw the bodies.

A separate strike in the southern city of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, killed four men, according to hospital records.

‘Not aware of strikes’

The Israeli military said it was not aware of strikes in either location. Israel says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians, but its daily strikes across Gaza often kill women and children.

In a separate development, a projectile fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen set off air raid sirens in central Israel. The Israeli military said it intercepted the projectile before it entered Israeli territory.

A former top Israeli general and Defence Minister has accused the government of ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza, where Israeli forces have been waging the latest in a series of offensives against Hamas since early October.

The army has sealed off the northern towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya, and the Jabaliya refugee camp, and allowed almost no humanitarian aid to enter. Tens of thousands of people have fled, while the United Nations estimates up to 75,000 remain and experts have warned of famine.

Moshe Yaalon, who served as Defense Minister under Benjamin Netanyahu before quitting in 2016 and emerging as a fierce critic of the prime minister, said the current far-right government is determined to “occupy, to annex, to ethnically cleanse.”

Pressed by an interviewer with a local news outlet on Saturday (November 30, 2024), he said: “There is no Beit Lahiya. No Beit Hanoun. (They are) operating now in Jabaliya, and (they) are actually cleaning the territory of Arabs.”

Yaalon doubled down on the remarks Sunday (December 1, 2024) in an interview with Israeli radio, saying “war crimes are being committed here.”

Netanyahu’s Likud party criticized his earlier remarks, accusing him of making “false statements” that are “a prize for the International Criminal Court and the camp of Israel haters.”

The ICC has issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu, another former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, and a Hamas commander, accusing them of crimes against humanity. The International Court of Justice is investigating allegations of genocide against Israel.

Israel rejects the allegations and says both courts are biased against it.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around people 250 hostages. Some 100 captives are still being held inside Gaza, around two-thirds of whom are believed to be alive.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 44,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The war has destroyed vast areas of the coastal enclave and displaced 90% of the population of 2.3 million, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands have crammed into squalid tent camps, where conditions have worsened as the cold, wet winter sets in.

Ceasefire

Israel reached a ceasefire with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants last week that has largely held, but that agreement, brokered by the United States and France, did not address the ongoing war in Gaza. Iran — which supports Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis and armed groups in Syria and Iraq — has exchanged fire with Israel twice this year.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent much of the past year trying to broker a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the remaining hostages, but those efforts stalled as Israel rejected Hamas’ demand for a complete withdrawal from the territory. The Biden administration has said it will make another push for a deal in its final weeks in office.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to end the wars in the Middle East, without saying how. He was a staunch defender of Israel and its policies toward the Palestinians during his previous term.

Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday (November 6, 2024) want Donald Trump, who won the U.S. election, to end the war between Israel and Hamas that has devastated their territory.

The conflict sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack has taken an appalling human toll in the Gaza Strip, displacing most of its residents, causing widespread hunger and death, and leaving hospitals struggling to cope.

“We were displaced, killed… there’s nothing left for us, we want peace,” Mamdouh al-Jadba, who was displaced to Gaza City from Jabalia, said.

“I hope Trump finds a solution, we need someone strong like Trump to end the war and save us, enough, God, this is enough,” the 60-year-old said.

“I was displaced three times, my house was destroyed, my children are homeless in the south… There’s nothing left, Gaza is finished.”

Umm Ahmed Harb, from the Al-Shaaf area east of Gaza City, was also counting on Mr. Trump to “stand by our side” and end the territory’s suffering.

“God willing the war will end, not for our sake but for the sake of our young children who are innocent, they were martyred and are dying of hunger,” she said.

“We cannot buy anything with the high prices (of food). We are here in fear, terror and death.”

For Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, where violence has also surged since October last year, Mr. Trump’s victory was reason to fear for the future.

“Trump is firm in some decisions, but these decisions could serve Israel’s interests politically more than they serve the Palestinian cause,” said Samir Abu Jundi, a 60-year-old in the city of Ramallah.

Another man who identified himself only by his nickname, Abu Mohammed, said he also saw no reason to believe Mr. Trump’s victory would be in favour of the Palestinians, saying “nothing will change except more decline”.

He said all U.S. presidents “are in favour of the State of Israel”, the Palestinian from east Jerusalem told AFP.

The United States is Israel’s main political and military backer and despite pressure from President Joe Biden’s administration for a ceasefire, the support has not wavered.

Imad Fakhida, a school principal in the main West Bank city of Ramallah, said “Trump’s return to power… will lead us to hell and there will be a greater and more difficult escalation.”

“He is known for his complete and greatest support for Israel,” he added.

‘We expect peace’

During his first term in office, Mr. Trump moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, recognised Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights and helped normalise ties between Israel and several Arab states under the so-called Abraham Accords.

The Accords were condemned as “treason” by Palestinian leaders who feared they undercut their aspirations for a homeland, and led to disgruntlement in Hamas.

The war erupted on October 7, 2023 after Hamas militants attacked Israel, resulting in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 43,391 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry the United Nations considers reliable.

During his campaign for a return to the White House, Mr. Trump said Gaza, which is located on the eastern Mediterranean, could be “better than Monaco”.

He also said he would have responded the same way as Israel did following the October 7 attack, while urging the US ally to “get the job done” because it was “losing a lot of support”.

More broadly he has promised to bring an end to raging international crises, even saying he could “stop wars with a telephone call”.

In Gaza, such statements gave reason for hope.

“We expect peace to come and the war to end with Trump because in his election campaign he said that he wants peace and calls for stopping the wars on Gaza and the Middle East,” said Ibrahim Alian, 33, from Gaza City.

Like many of the territory’s residents, Alian has been displaced several times by the fighting. He said he also lost his father to the war.

“God willing the war on the Gaza Strip will end and the situation will change,” he said.

Image for representation
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Several airlines operating in the Gulf have adjusted their flight routes to ensure passenger safety following Iran’s attack on Israel.

Neighbouring countries have closed their airspace and airline crews are navigating alternative routes to avoid the escalating conflict.

Etihad Airways

Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways said it is rerouting several flights on Wednesday due to airspace restrictions in parts of the Middle East. Etihad said it is continuously monitoring security and airspace updates as the situation evolves.

Emirates Airlines

Emirates cancelled all flights to and from Iraq (Basra and Baghdad), Iran, and Jordan on Oct. 2 and 3. The airline is closely monitoring the situation in the region and is in contact with relevant authorities regarding any developments.

Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways temporarily suspended flights to and from Iraq and Iran due to airspace closures.

Flydubai

Flydubai cancelled flights to Jordan, Iraq, Israel, and Iran on Oct. 2 and 3 due to the temporary closure of airspace, according to a statement provided to Reuters.

Kuwait Airways

Kuwait Airways said on Tuesday it had adjusted the flight routes for some of its services, resulting in changes to destination timings.

A Palestinian baby girl, Sabreen Jouda, who was delivered prematurely after her mother was killed in an Israeli strike along with her husband and daughter, lies in an incubator in the Emirati hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. on April 21, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Sabreen Jouda came into the world seconds after her mother left it.

Their home was hit by an Israeli airstrike shortly before midnight Saturday. Until that moment, the family was like so many other Palestinians trying to shelter from the war in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah.

Also read | The impact of violence on a child’s mind

Sabreen’s father was killed. Her 4-year-old sister was killed. Her mother was killed.

But emergency responders learned that her mother, Sabreen al-Sakani, was 30 weeks pregnant. In a rush at the Kuwaiti hospital where the bodies were taken, medical workers performed an emergency caesarean section.

Little Sabreen was near death herself, fighting to breathe. Her tiny body lay in the recovery position on a small piece of carpet as medical workers gently pumped air into her open mouth. A gloved hand tapped at her chest.

She survived.

On Sunday, in the hours after the airstrike, she whimpered and wriggled inside an incubator at the nearby Emirati hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit. She wore a diaper too big for her and her identity was scrawled in pen on a piece of tape around her chest: “The martyr Sabreen al-Sakani’s baby.” “We can say there is some progress in her health condition, but the situation is still at risk,” said Dr. Mohammad Salameh, head of the unit. “This child should have been in the mother’s womb at this time, but she was deprived of this right.” He described her as a premature orphan girl.

But she is not alone.

“Welcome to her. She is the daughter of my dear son. I will take care of her. She is my love, my soul. She is a memory of her father. I will take care of her,” said Ahalam al-Kurdi, her paternal grandmother. She clutched her chest and rocked with grief.

At least two-thirds of the more than 34,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza since this war began have been children and women, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The other Israeli airstrike in Rafah overnight killed 17 children and two women from an extended family.

Not everyone is immediately recovered after such attacks.

“My son was also with them. My son became body parts and they have not found him yet. They do not recognize him,” said Mirvat al-Sakani, Sabreen’s maternal grandmother. “They have nothing to do with anything. Why are they targeting them? We don’t know why, how? We do not know.” On Sunday, the survivors buried the dead. Children in bloodied wraps were placed in body bags and into the dusty ground as families wailed.

Little boys watched and tried to keep their footing at the edge of a grave.