SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Smoke covers the area following the Israeli attack on Omar al-Mukhtar Street of Gaza City, Gaza on October 3, 2025.
(Photo by Saeed MMT Jaras/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Israel Kills Dozens in Gaza City Despite Moves Toward Peace Talks
Children were among those killed Saturday, as Israeli ministers rejected the idea of deescalating before defeating Hamas.
Oct 04, 2025
"We have not seen any change on the ground," reported Al Jazeera correspondent Hind Khoudary on Saturday, after US President Donald Trump called on the Israel Defense Forces to stop their attacks on Gaza and as some in the Western media reported that there were "hopeful signs" that negotiations in Egypt planned for the coming days would result in a major diplomatic breakthrough.
Despite Hamas' statement Friday saying it would conditionally release the remaining hostages it has held since October 7, 2023, which led Trump to demand that Israel "immediately stop the bombing of Gaza," Al Jazeera reported that at least 55 people had been killed in Gaza Saturday morning, including 39 in Gaza City. At least seven children between the ages of two months and eight years old were among those killed in the city, the Palestinian Civil Defense told the outlet.
"The Israeli forces a short while ago targeted a house in the Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City, where at least 17 Palestinians have been confirmed killed and transferred to the hospital," reported Khoudary. "Dozens of others have been injured, and the hospitals are unable to treat all of these Palestinians. What is happening on the ground doesn’t show that there is any type of ceasefire."
Trump claimed Saturday that Israel had “temporarily stopped the bombing."
Regarding the Tuffah attack, Israeli officials told The New York Times that "the military has only been told to shift to defensive operations."
The IDF "had attacked a Hamas militant who threatened Israeli soldiers in the area and... was looking into reports civilians had been harmed," the Times reported.
Israel and the US have consistently denied that the IDF intentionally targets civilians—even as Israeli soldiers have said they've been ordered to do so and doctors have reported treating children with gunshot wounds to the head and chest.
The IDF also warned Gaza City residents Saturday that the city is still a "dangerous combat zone" and called on them to "move south."
Saturday's attacks continued as far-right members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government warned against deescalating the offensive in Gaza, which has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians and injured more than 169,000. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has called for Israel to annex the Gaza Strip and to build a West Bank settlement that would "bury" the potential for a Palestinian state, said that halting attacks while the details of the peace deal proposed by Trump were still being negotiated would be a "big mistake."
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir added that he would leave the government if Netanyahu "compromised on the goal of destroying Hamas after the hostages were released in a deal," The New York Times reported.
Smotrich and Ben-Gvir have rejected the idea of Israel ending its attacks before Hamas is destroyed.
The 20-point peace plan released by Trump this week demands that Hamas release all 20 living and 28 dead hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. It also calls for the disarmament of Hamas—a demand the group has said it would discuss at a later date—and would set up a "Board of Peace" headed by Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Hamas has said it would instead support the establishment of an administrative government of Gaza headed by "a Palestinian body of independents, based on Palestinian national consensus and with Arab and Islamic support."
Egypt's foreign ministry said it plans to host delegations from Israel and Hamas on Monday for indirect talks on the hostage and prisoner exchange.
The latest move toward ceasefire talks came as a new poll from The Washington Post showed that Israel appears to have lost considerable support from many Jewish Americans, with 61% saying Netanyahu's government is committing war crimes in Gaza and 4 in 10 saying the country is guilty of genocide.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
"We have not seen any change on the ground," reported Al Jazeera correspondent Hind Khoudary on Saturday, after US President Donald Trump called on the Israel Defense Forces to stop their attacks on Gaza and as some in the Western media reported that there were "hopeful signs" that negotiations in Egypt planned for the coming days would result in a major diplomatic breakthrough.
Despite Hamas' statement Friday saying it would conditionally release the remaining hostages it has held since October 7, 2023, which led Trump to demand that Israel "immediately stop the bombing of Gaza," Al Jazeera reported that at least 55 people had been killed in Gaza Saturday morning, including 39 in Gaza City. At least seven children between the ages of two months and eight years old were among those killed in the city, the Palestinian Civil Defense told the outlet.
"The Israeli forces a short while ago targeted a house in the Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City, where at least 17 Palestinians have been confirmed killed and transferred to the hospital," reported Khoudary. "Dozens of others have been injured, and the hospitals are unable to treat all of these Palestinians. What is happening on the ground doesn’t show that there is any type of ceasefire."
Trump claimed Saturday that Israel had “temporarily stopped the bombing."
Regarding the Tuffah attack, Israeli officials told The New York Times that "the military has only been told to shift to defensive operations."
The IDF "had attacked a Hamas militant who threatened Israeli soldiers in the area and... was looking into reports civilians had been harmed," the Times reported.
Israel and the US have consistently denied that the IDF intentionally targets civilians—even as Israeli soldiers have said they've been ordered to do so and doctors have reported treating children with gunshot wounds to the head and chest.
The IDF also warned Gaza City residents Saturday that the city is still a "dangerous combat zone" and called on them to "move south."
Saturday's attacks continued as far-right members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government warned against deescalating the offensive in Gaza, which has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians and injured more than 169,000. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has called for Israel to annex the Gaza Strip and to build a West Bank settlement that would "bury" the potential for a Palestinian state, said that halting attacks while the details of the peace deal proposed by Trump were still being negotiated would be a "big mistake."
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir added that he would leave the government if Netanyahu "compromised on the goal of destroying Hamas after the hostages were released in a deal," The New York Times reported.
Smotrich and Ben-Gvir have rejected the idea of Israel ending its attacks before Hamas is destroyed.
The 20-point peace plan released by Trump this week demands that Hamas release all 20 living and 28 dead hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. It also calls for the disarmament of Hamas—a demand the group has said it would discuss at a later date—and would set up a "Board of Peace" headed by Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Hamas has said it would instead support the establishment of an administrative government of Gaza headed by "a Palestinian body of independents, based on Palestinian national consensus and with Arab and Islamic support."
Egypt's foreign ministry said it plans to host delegations from Israel and Hamas on Monday for indirect talks on the hostage and prisoner exchange.
The latest move toward ceasefire talks came as a new poll from The Washington Post showed that Israel appears to have lost considerable support from many Jewish Americans, with 61% saying Netanyahu's government is committing war crimes in Gaza and 4 in 10 saying the country is guilty of genocide.
From Your Site Articles
"We have not seen any change on the ground," reported Al Jazeera correspondent Hind Khoudary on Saturday, after US President Donald Trump called on the Israel Defense Forces to stop their attacks on Gaza and as some in the Western media reported that there were "hopeful signs" that negotiations in Egypt planned for the coming days would result in a major diplomatic breakthrough.
Despite Hamas' statement Friday saying it would conditionally release the remaining hostages it has held since October 7, 2023, which led Trump to demand that Israel "immediately stop the bombing of Gaza," Al Jazeera reported that at least 55 people had been killed in Gaza Saturday morning, including 39 in Gaza City. At least seven children between the ages of two months and eight years old were among those killed in the city, the Palestinian Civil Defense told the outlet.
"The Israeli forces a short while ago targeted a house in the Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City, where at least 17 Palestinians have been confirmed killed and transferred to the hospital," reported Khoudary. "Dozens of others have been injured, and the hospitals are unable to treat all of these Palestinians. What is happening on the ground doesn’t show that there is any type of ceasefire."
Trump claimed Saturday that Israel had “temporarily stopped the bombing."
Regarding the Tuffah attack, Israeli officials told The New York Times that "the military has only been told to shift to defensive operations."
The IDF "had attacked a Hamas militant who threatened Israeli soldiers in the area and... was looking into reports civilians had been harmed," the Times reported.
Israel and the US have consistently denied that the IDF intentionally targets civilians—even as Israeli soldiers have said they've been ordered to do so and doctors have reported treating children with gunshot wounds to the head and chest.
The IDF also warned Gaza City residents Saturday that the city is still a "dangerous combat zone" and called on them to "move south."
Saturday's attacks continued as far-right members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government warned against deescalating the offensive in Gaza, which has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians and injured more than 169,000. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has called for Israel to annex the Gaza Strip and to build a West Bank settlement that would "bury" the potential for a Palestinian state, said that halting attacks while the details of the peace deal proposed by Trump were still being negotiated would be a "big mistake."
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir added that he would leave the government if Netanyahu "compromised on the goal of destroying Hamas after the hostages were released in a deal," The New York Times reported.
Smotrich and Ben-Gvir have rejected the idea of Israel ending its attacks before Hamas is destroyed.
The 20-point peace plan released by Trump this week demands that Hamas release all 20 living and 28 dead hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. It also calls for the disarmament of Hamas—a demand the group has said it would discuss at a later date—and would set up a "Board of Peace" headed by Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Hamas has said it would instead support the establishment of an administrative government of Gaza headed by "a Palestinian body of independents, based on Palestinian national consensus and with Arab and Islamic support."
Egypt's foreign ministry said it plans to host delegations from Israel and Hamas on Monday for indirect talks on the hostage and prisoner exchange.
The latest move toward ceasefire talks came as a new poll from The Washington Post showed that Israel appears to have lost considerable support from many Jewish Americans, with 61% saying Netanyahu's government is committing war crimes in Gaza and 4 in 10 saying the country is guilty of genocide.
From Your Site Articles
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.