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hostages
Trump Tells Israel to 'Immediately Stop' Bombing Gaza After Hamas Agrees to Hostage Release
Israel reportedly responded to Trump's call by launching fresh strikes on Gaza City and Khan Younis.
Oct 03, 2025
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Israel must "immediately" stop bombing the Gaza Strip after Hamas conditionally agreed to release the remaining Israeli and other hostages it has held since October 2023.
"Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE. Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!" Trump said on his Truth Social network. "Right now, it’s far too dangerous to do that. We are already in discussions on details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East."
Hamas' statement, which Trump also posted on Truth Social, said the Gaza-based resistance group would hand over all hostages alive or dead, as long as "the field conditions for the exchange are met," and that it "affirms its readiness to immediately enter into negotiations through the mediators to discuss the details of this agreement."
"The movement also renews its agreement to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents (technocrats), based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support," Hamas added.
"The other issues mentioned in President Trump’s proposal regarding the future of the Gaza Strip and the inherent rights of the Palestinian people are linked to a comprehensive national position and based on relevant international laws and resolutions," the group said. "They are to be discussed within a comprehensive Palestinian national framework. Hamas will be part of it and will contribute to it with full responsibility."
Hamas was referring to the 20-point plan proposed earlier this week by Trump, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly backed, even as the fugitive from the International Criminal Court reportedly seeks ways to alter its conditions and slow its implementation.
Under part of the plan, Hamas would release all 20 living and 28 dead hostages in exchange for 250 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel for murdering Israelis and 1,700 others detained by Israel in Gaza since October 2023.
It remains to be seen whether Netanyahu—who has infamously boasted of his ability to "very easily" manipulate the US government—will heed Trump's call to stop bombing Gaza, where 729 days of near-relentless Israeli assault and siege have left more than 244,000 Palestinians dead, wounded, or missing and around 2 million Gazans forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened.
Gaza media outlets reported fresh Israeli strikes in Gaza City and Khan Younis.
🇮🇱💥🇵🇸 Moments after Trump urged Israel to stop bombing Gaza, Israel launched new strikes on Gaza City and Khan Younis.
[image or embed]
— Al Quds News Network (@alqudsnewsnet.bsky.social) October 3, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Some of Israel's most intense bombing of Gaza has occurred when ceasefire deals have seemed imminent; critics including relatives of the hostages have accused Netanyahu of prolonging the genocidal war in order to forestall a reckoning in his criminal corruption trial.
Thousands of Israel Defense Forces soldiers have been killed or wounded during Israel's effort to conquer, occupy, and ethnically cleanse Gaza. Many other IDF soldiers and veterans are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues as a result of their participation in what former United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths called the "worst crime of the 21st century."
Earlier Friday, Trump threatened to unleash "HELL, like no one has ever seen before" if Hamas did not assent to the deal by Sunday evening.
"The priority is to stop the war and massacres, and from this perspective, we responded positively to the Trump plan," Hamas leader Musa Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera.
However Abu Marzouk said that a key point of the Trump plan requiring Hamas to disarm would be discussed at a later date, and that "handing over prisoners and bodies within 72 hours is theoretical and unrealistic under the current circumstances."
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Palestinian Rights Advocates Condemn Boulder Attack on Vigil for Hostages
"I don't want to see a single person saying this was warranted by the carnage in Gaza, that this was for Palestinians," said congressional candidate Kat Abuhazaleh. "I am Palestinian and I do not want senseless acts of terror committed in my name."
Jun 02, 2025
Two Palestinian American politicians were among those who condemned Sunday's attack on people attending a vigil in Boulder, Colorado for Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas—with Georgia state Rep. Ruwa Romman saying she was "appalled that anyone would do this in our name."
"Committing violence makes everyone less safe and makes peace impossible," said Romman. "Those who do must be held accountable. Praying for the victims and their loved ones."
Her comments came after a suspect identified as Mohamed Sabry Soliman allegedly threw a "makeshift flamethrower" using two bottles into a crowd of people who were taking part in a "Run for Their Lives" event in honor of people who were kidnapped by Hamas in October 2023.
At least two people were flown to a burn unit in Denver for serious injuries; eight people in all were hurt in the attack.
Mark D. Michalek, a special agent in the FBI's Denver field office, said Soliman yelled, "Free Palestine" during the attack, echoing the suspect in the killing of two Israeli embassy workers in Washington, D.C. last month. There was no indication that Soliman was linked to any particular group, Michalek said.
Soliman was taken into custody on Sunday.
Romman condemned the "cruelty and dehumanization" that appear to have led to attacks on individuals by suspects who have been motivated by anger at the Israeli government, which began bombarding Gaza in retaliation for Hamas' attack in 2023.
Israeli forces have killed more than 54,000 Palestinians since October 2023, waging attacks on schools, shelters, and hospitals while claiming to target Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has also imposed a total blockade on Gaza since March—pushing the population towards famine—and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday opened fire on hundreds of Palestinians who were attempting to retrieve food at a distribution center set up by an Israel- and U.S.-backed company.
"Enough with the cruelty and dehumanization," said Romman. "Equating the Jewish community with the Israeli government fuels antisemitism further enabling extremism, conspiracy theories, and violence."
Critics have warned that the Israeli government has consistently conflated Judaism with Zionism and its actions in Gaza. In recent days officials have accused media outlets and critics of "blood libel"—a reference to ancient false allegations of ritual murder by Jewish people—for reporting on and condemning Israel's starvation of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the IDF's attacks.
Yonah Lieberman, co-founder of the Jewish-led Palestinian rights group IfNotNow, said that while the "horrific" attack in Boulder was "a random act by an individual" and was "not representative of any movement," the killing of Palestinians in Gaza is the "result of official policy by the Israeli government."
Kat Abughazaleh, a progressive candidate for the U.S. House in Illinois' 9th District, warned that "senseless, antisemitic attacks do not help Palestinians, Jews, or Israelis."
"I don't want to see a single person saying this was warranted by the carnage in Gaza, that this was for Palestinians. I am Palestinian and I do not want senseless acts of terror committed in my name... Equating Jewish people with Israel's far-right government inevitably leads to antisemitism. It leads to innocent people getting hurt, more Jewish organizations being targeted, and Netanyahu preying on fear."
"My heart breaks every single day when I see what is happening in Gaza," she added. "I feel helpless. I know many of you do too. But when people enact violence in our name, it makes everyone less safe and it makes peace less likely."
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Gaza Cease-Fire Takes Effect After Deadly Three-Hour Delay
Israeli forces killed at least 19 Palestinians during the delay, on top of nearly 47,000 others slaughtered since October 2023.
Jan 19, 2025
Israeli forces killed at least 19 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning during a three-hour delay in implementing a cease-fire and hostage-release deal that Israel's Cabinet finally approved the previous day.
After over 15 months of a U.S.-backed military assault for which Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strikes on Gaza were set to stop at 8:30 am local time, due to a three-phase agreement negotiated by Egypt, Qatar, and the outgoing Biden and incoming Trump administrations.
They did not, with deadly results. Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for Gaza's Civil Defense, said Sunday that at least 19 people were killed and over 36 were injured from 8:30 am to 11:30 am. That's on top of the tens of thousands of people the Israeli assault and restrictions on humanitarian aid have killed since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
As of midnight Saturday, the Gaza Ministry of Health put the official death toll in the besieged Palestinian enclave at 46,913, with another 110,750 people injured and over 10,000 others missing in the rubble of former homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques, though experts warn the number of deaths is likely far higher.
At 9:17 am on Sunday, the IDF said that it was "continuing to operate and strike terrorist targets in Gaza," adding: "A short while ago, IDF artillery and aircraft struck a number of terrorist targets in northern and central Gaza. The IDF remains ready in offense and defense and will not allow any harm to the citizens of Israel."
Muhammad Shehada, a Gazan writer, called the delay a "last-minute trick" by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and explained on social media that it was "under the pretext that Hamas hasn't submitted the list of three captives it'll release today."
As Shehada detailed:
Israel also reneged on the arrangement needed for Hamas to be able to submit such list; suspending surveillance drones and bombardment in the hours preceding the cease-fire so that it becomes logistically possible for Hamas' members on the ground and abroad to contact each other and figure out which hostages are alive and where without compromising their whereabouts and risking being bombed or raided by the IDF.
Hamas was forced to submit the list under fire and spy drones, which meant Israel exploited this to try to locate and snatch some captives last minute. Israel now succeeded in reaching the body of the soldier Oron Shaul, whom Hamas had been holding captive since 2014.
Ultimately, Hamas submitted the list and the pause in fighting took effect—at least for now—enabling displaced Palestinians to start returning to what is left of their communities and the process of releasing captives to begin with three Israelis and 90 Palestinians. During the deal's first 42-day phase, there are plans to free 33 Israelis taken hostage by Palestinian militants, 737 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, and 1,167 Palestinians detained by Israeli forces in Gaza.
The three Israeli hostages—Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher—were transfered to the International Committee of the Red Cross at a square in central Gaza City. The IDF confirmed that the Red Cross was bringing the women to Israeli troops.
The Associated Press on Sunday obtained from Hamas a list of the first 90 Palestinian prisoners set to be freed. They included 15-year-old Mahmoud Aliowat; 53-year-old Dalal Khaseeb, the sister of former Hamas second-in-command Saleh Arouri; 62-year-old Khalida Jarrar, a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine leader; and 68-year-old Abla Abdelrasoul, the wife of detained PFLP leader Ahmad Saadat.
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