Trump says Hamas 'ready for peace' as Israel kills 72 in Gaza

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Saturday that Israel was seeking the "immediate implementation" of US President Donald Trump's plan to free Israeli captives in Gaza, after Hamas said it was ready for peace talks.

"In light of Hamas's response, Israel is preparing for the immediate implementation of the first stage of the Trump plan for the release of all the hostages," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

"We will continue to work in full cooperation with the President and his team to end the war in accordance with the principles set out by Israel, which align with President Trump's vision."

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday that Hamas's acceptance of a US-backed peace deal was "a significant step forwards" in the effort to end the war in Gaza.

President Donald Trump's proposal has "brought us closer to peace than ever before", Starmer said in a statement, adding: "We call on all sides to implement the agreement without delay."

US President Donald Trump pledged in a brief video Friday that all sides would be treated fairly in Gaza talks, as he hailed Hamas's apparent agreement to free captives as a "special day."

"Everybody will be treated fairly," Trump said in the message lasting just over a minute, which was posted on his Truth Social network. "This is a very special day, maybe unprecedented."

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Saturday that "peace in Gaza and the release of the hostages are within reach" after Hamas "agreed in principle" to US President Donald Trump's peace plan.

Merz added in posts on the X platform that the plan represented "the best chance for peace" in the conflict and that Germany "fully supports" Trump's "call upon both sides".

French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday a ceasefire in Gaza and the freeing of captives held in the devastated Palestinian territory are "within reach", after Hamas said it was ready for peace talks.

"The release of all hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza are within reach!" Macron wrote on X, joining a chorus of hopeful reactions to the Palestinian group's response to US President Donald Trump's peace plan.

Hamas on Saturday said statements by US President Donald Trump calling on Israel to stop bombing Gaza are "encouraging", expressing readiness to immediately negotiate for the release of captives and an end to the war.

"President Trump's statements on the immediate cessation of Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip are encouraging, and Hamas is ready to immediately begin negotiations to achieve a prisoner exchange, end the war and ensure the withdrawal of the (Israeli) army from the Gaza Strip," Hamas spokesman Taher al-Nounou told AFP.

Qatar on Saturday welcomed a Hamas statement agreeing to US President Donald Trump's Gaza plan and said it was working alongside fellow mediators to resume talks about implementing a ceasefire.

"The State of Qatar welcomes the announcement by Hamas of its agreement to President Trump's plan," said Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari, who also expressed support for Trump's statements calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Doha and mediator Egypt had begun working, in coordination with the United States, "to continue discussions on the plan in order to ensure a path toward ending the war".

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday welcomed Hamas's declared readiness to release hostages under a Gaza peace deal announced by US President Donald Trump.

"The Secretary-General welcomes and is encouraged by the statement issued by Hamas announcing its readiness to release hostages and to engage," Guterres spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

"He urges all parties to seize the opportunity to bring the tragic conflict in Gaza to an end."

Egypt said on Saturday that it hopes for "positive development" after Palestinian group Hamas accepted parts of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, and that all parties would implement it, according to a foreign ministry statement.

It said it will exert all efforts with Arab states, the US and European countries to reach a permanent ceasefire in the devastated enclave. 

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he believed Hamas was ready for peace and told Israel to stop bombing Gaza, after the Palestinian group declared it was ready to free remaining Israeli captives it holds under his ceasefire plan.

"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 posted on his Truth Social network.

Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli captives, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump's Gaza proposal, and signalled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.

However it also said that issues in Trump's proposal regarding the future of the Gaza Strip and the rights of the Palestinian people are connected to a unified Palestinian national position and international laws and resolutions.

It said that these must be addressed through a comprehensive national framework.

The death toll from Israeli attacks in Gaza has risen to 72 since dawn on Friday, at least 42 of them in Gaza City, Al-Jazeera reported, citing medical sources.

Switzerland will file a diplomatic protest to Israel after Israeli security forces cut short a visit by Swiss diplomats to imprisoned detainees from the Gaza aid flotilla, the Swiss foreign ministry said on Friday.

"Due to various incidents, the Israeli security authorities interrupted the visit, preventing the Swiss embassy representatives from talking at length with the group of Swiss nationals," the ministry said in a statement.

Nineteen Swiss nationals were aboard boats in the flotilla of dozens of vessels that tried to deliver aid to the besieged and devastated Gaza Strip. They were taken into custody on Thursday by Israeli forces who intercepted the flotilla at sea, well off Gaza's coast, and eventually taken to Ketziot prison, according to the Waves of Freedom flotilla group.

Hundreds of other activists including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg were also detained in what was the latest attempt by activists to challenge Israel's naval blockade of Gaza, where hundreds of people have starved to death and tens of thousands more have been killed in indiscriminate Israeli bombardment.

The Swiss foreign ministry said it would demand from Israel immediate and unhindered access to the detained Swiss nationals to ascertain their state of health and conditions of detention.

Representatives from the Swiss teams visited the Ketziot prison for eight hours, the ministry said, adding that they planned to return on Sunday.

The Israeli military on Friday intercepted the last boat in the flotilla attempting to reach the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, the Global Sumud Flotilla said Israeli naval forces had "illegally intercepted all 42 of our vessels - each carrying humanitarian aid, volunteers, and the determination to break Israel’s illegal siege on Gaza"

A lawsuit that claimed the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees had provided more than $1 billion that enabled Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack on Israel was dismissed this week by a federal judge in New York.

US District Judge Analisa Torres said the United Nations Relief and Works Agency was protected because it was part of the United Nations, which enjoys immunity from such lawsuits.

The suit sought to hold UNRWA responsible for the October 7 attack on Israel. The litigation, filed by families of some of the Israeli victims of the attack, sought unspecified damages and named UNRWA and seven of its current and former senior officials as defendants.

The lawsuit claimed that UNRWA had aided Hamas by, among other things, permitting weapons storage and deployment centres in its schools and medical clinics and by employing Hamas members.

Lawyers for UNRWA have called the lawsuit “absurd” and have said in court filings that the agency was immune from liability as a “subsidiary organ” of the U.N.

President Joe Biden's administration last year had argued that the suit should be dismissed because UNRWA was protected by immunity and could not be sued. But in April, President Donald Trump's administration reversed that position and argued that neither the agency nor its officials were entitled to such protection.

Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed 60 Palestinians since dawn, according to Al Jazeera citing medical sources. This includes 37 who were killed in Gaza City.

Dozens of UN experts cautioned Friday that key elements of US President Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza were inconsistent with international law and risked deepening oppression of Palestinians.

"Imposing an immediate peace at any price, regardless of or brazenly against law and justice, is a recipe for further injustice, future violence and instability," 35 United Nations independent experts said in a statement.

They voiced serious concerns about more than a dozen aspects of the 20-point plan unveiled by the US president last week, and backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The experts, who are mandated by the UN Human Rights Council but who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations, said they "welcome part of the peace plan".

They hailed the demand for a permanent ceasefire, the rapid release of unlawfully detained people, and an influx of aid.

And they celebrated the call for no forced displacement from Gaza, no annexation of the territory and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

However, they warned that other elements of the plan were "deeply inconsistent with fundamental rules of international law".

The experts, including Francesca Albanese, the special rapporteur on rights in the Palestinian territory, insisted that any peace plan needed to ensure self-determination and accountability, and "not create further conditions of oppression".

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said Friday that the Israeli military had dropped grenades near its peacekeepers the day before, urging the army to stop such attacks.

"Yesterday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) dropped grenades near peacekeepers working alongside Lebanese soldiers to provide security for civilian workers" in south Lebanon's Maroun al-Ras, a UNIFIL statement said, adding that nobody was hurt.

The statement urged the Israeli army "to cease attacks on or near peacekeepers, civilians, and Lebanese soldiers... and allow us to carry out our mandated tasks without obstruction".

President Tayyip Erdogan told US counterpart Donald Trump in a phone call on Friday that Turkey welcomed efforts to reach peace in the region, but that Israel must stop its attacks for efforts to be successful, the Turkish presidency said.

In a statement, the presidency said Erdogan told Trump in a call requested by the US side that Turkey would continue to support peace initiatives in the region and contribute to Trump's vision for global peace.

It also said the two discussed bilateral ties, adding that Erdogan stressed the importance of taking steps to boost their cooperation, namely in the defence industry.

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to throw the activists of the Gaza aid flotillas into prison instead of deporting them, saying: "I think they must be kept here for a few months in an Israeli prison, so that they get used to the smell of the terrorist wing."

He added that simply deporting them would see them return "again and again and again," he was quoted as saying by The Times of Israel.

US President Donald Trump gave Hamas until 6 p.m./2200 GMT on Sunday to reach an agreement on his plan for Gaza's future, calling it a last chance for the Palestinian militant group.

"An agreement must be reached with Hamas by Sunday Evening at SIX (6) P.M., Washington, D.C. time," Trump wrote on Friday on Truth Social. "Every Country has signed on! If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas."

Gaza's Ministry of Health has said that Israeli attacks on Gaza in the last 24 hours have killed 63 Palestinians and wounded a further 227, 15 of whom were killed while seeking aid. 

The organisers of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla said Israel intercepted its last remaining boat on Friday, after the interceptions of its fellow vessels drew protests worldwide.

"Marinette, the last remaining boat of the Global Sumud Flotilla, was intercepted at 10:29 am (0729 GMT) local time, approximately 42.5 nautical miles from Gaza," the flotilla organisers said on Telegram.

They added that Israeli naval forces had "illegally intercepted all 42 of our vessels -- each carrying humanitarian aid, volunteers, and the determination to break Israel's illegal siege on Gaza".

Israel on Friday deported four Italian activists, the first of hundreds detained from an aid flotilla bound for Gaza, shortly after the interception of a final boat brought an end to its mission.

Israel's foreign ministry said Friday that it deported four Italian activists who were on board the flotilla, adding that "the rest are in the process of being deported".

Israeli police said "more than 470 flotilla participants were taken into custody by the military police, subjected to rigorous screening, and transferred to the prison administration".

Authorities earlier said that none of the vessels had breached their maritime blockade of the territory.

"Marinette, the last remaining boat of the Global Sumud Flotilla, was intercepted at 10:29 am (0729 GMT) local time, approximately 42.5 nautical miles from Gaza," the flotilla organisers said on Telegram.

They added that Israeli naval forces had "illegally intercepted all 42 of our vessels -- each carrying humanitarian aid, volunteers, and the determination to break Israel's illegal siege on Gaza".

Reporters Without Borders has condemned Israel's arrest of "more than 20 foreign journalists" after Israeli forces intercepted a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, calling for their immediate release.

In a statement released on Thursday evening, the Paris-based media watchdog said there were more than 20 foreign reporters on board the Global Sumud Flotilla, which set sail last month for Gaza, where the United Nations says famine is taking place.

The journalists were arrested between Wednesday and Thursday when the Israeli navy began intercepting the boats ferrying politicians and activists including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg towards Gaza, RSF said.

Vessels with more than 400 people on board had been prevented from reaching the Gaza Strip, an Israeli official said on Thursday.

"Arresting journalists and preventing them from doing their work is a serious violation of the right to inform and be informed," said Martin Roux, head of RSF's crisis desk.

"RSF condemns the illegal arrest of the news professionals who were on board these ships to cover a humanitarian operation of unprecedented scale," said Roux.

Among the some 20 journalists on board were reporters from Spain's El Pais, Qatar's Al Jazeera and Italy's public broadcaster RAI.

The United Nations on Friday insisted there was no safe place for Palestinians ordered to leave Gaza City and that Israel-designated zones in the south were "places of death".

"The notion of a safe zone in the south is farcical," UNICEF spokesman James Elder told reporters in Geneva, speaking from the Gaza Strip, pointing out that "bombs are dropped from the sky with chilling predictability; schools, which had been designated as temporary shelters are regularly reduced to rubble, (and) tents... are regularly engulfed in fire from air attacks".

A general strike in Italy in support of the Gaza aid flotilla disrupted trains and threatened more commuter chaos Friday in a second day of demonstrations in Rome.

The strike, called by the USB and CFIL unions, follows demonstrations Thursday in several cities across the world, including in Milan and Rome, where some 10,000 people marched from the Colosseum.

Protesters began to amass again Friday morning in Rome to march to the vast plaza outside the central train station of Termini, where services were cancelled or delayed up to 80 minutes.

"The squares will be packed," the head of the CGIL union, Maurizio Landini, told Radio Anch'io Friday.

"It shows the humanity and determination of decent people who want to stop genocide and are doing what governments and states have pretended not to see or are even complicit in," Landini said.

In Milan and other cities, travellers experienced similar delays and cancellations, with national railway Trenitalia warning that the national strike would extend through 20:59 pm Friday.

"Today, one million Italians will be left stranded on trains alone," Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini told the Mattino Cinque television show.

Commercial traffic was blocked at the port of Livorno, local media reported.

Israel's foreign ministry on Friday said four Italian activists from a Gaza-bound aid flotilla had been deported, after the Global Sumud Flotilla said Israel had intercepted its last boat.

"Procedures are under way to wrap up the Hamas-Sumud provocation and to finalise the deportation of the participants in this sham," the foreign ministry said on X. "Already 4 Italian citizens have been deported. The rest are in the process of being deported. Israel is keen to end this procedure as quickly as possible."

Mothers and newborn babies in Gaza face dire conditions as Nasser hospital in the south of the enclave is overwhelmed with patients fleeing the north and medical resources running out, UNICEF said on Friday.

"The situation for mothers and newborns in Gaza has never been worse. In Nasser hospital, we're seeing hospital corridors lined with women who've just given birth," UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva via video link from Gaza.

The organisers of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla said Israel intercepted its last remaining boat on Friday, after the interceptions of its fellow vessels drew protests worldwide.

"Marinette, the last remaining boat of the Global Sumud Flotilla, was intercepted at 10:29 am (0729 GMT) local time, approximately 42.5 nautical miles from Gaza," the flotilla said on Telegram, adding that Israeli naval forces had "illegally intercepted all 42 of our vessels - each carrying humanitarian aid, volunteers, and the determination to break Israel's illegal siege on Gaza."

British police on Friday urged organisers of a planned pro-Palestinian protest in London this weekend to cancel or postpone the event, following the deadly an attack on a Manchester synagogue.

"The horrific terrorist attack that took place in Manchester yesterday will have caused significant fear and concern in communities across the UK, including here in London," the Metropolitan Police said on X.

Police said they wanted to deploy every available officer to protect communities but were instead having to prepare for a gathering of more than 1,000 people in London's Trafalgar Square on Saturday in support of Palestine Action, an organisation which was banned under anti-terrorism laws in July.

"By choosing to encourage mass law breaking on this scale, Defend Our Juries (protest organisers) are drawing resources away from the communities of London at a time when they are needed most," the police said.

The 20 points that US President Donald Trump announced as part of his Gaza plan this week were not in line with the draft proposed by a group of Muslim-majority countries, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday.

Changes were made in the plan, Dar told Pakistani lawmakers in parliament.

"I have made it clear that these 20 points which Trump has made public are not ours. These are not the same as ours. I say that some changes have been made in it, in the draft we had," he said.

Trump published on Monday the plan that would end Israel's war on Gaza and require the return of all Israeli captives living and dead within 72 hours of a ceasefire.

The plan leaves many details for negotiators to hash out and hinges on acceptance by Hamas. It refers to a redeveloped Gaza as "New Gaza."

Israeli attacks on Gaza City have killed three people, according to Al Jazeera, with a drone strike on the al-Mawasi area, designated a "safe zone" by Israel, killing a child, according to Wafa.

A boat from a flotilla that had been carrying aid to Gaza until it was intercepted by Israel has docked in Cyprus, the Mediterranean island's government said on Friday.

The vessel carrying 21 foreigners asked to dock in Larnaca for refuelling and humanitarian reasons, a government spokesperson said on X.

He did not identify the boat, or say whether it had been among those stopped by the Israeli military.

After registering all the passengers, Cyprus provided for their basic needs and offered consular assistance, he added. Israel faced international condemnation and protest on Thursday after it intercepted most of the 40 or so boats in the flotilla and detained more than 450 activists from Italy, Spain and other countries, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg. It said the activists would be deported.

Italy said on Thursday that the activists were likely to be sent to European capitals on charter flights on Monday and Tuesday. Four Italian parliamentarians were released and due to fly to Rome on Friday.

A Hamas official told AFP on Friday that the group needed more time to study a Gaza peace plan put forward by US President Donald Trump and backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Hamas is still continuing consultations regarding Trump's plan... and has informed mediators that the consultations are ongoing and need some time," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Trump on Tuesday gave Hamas an ultimatum of "three or four days" to accept his plan to end the war in the Palestinian territory.