Israeli strikes kill dozens in Gaza as Hamas considers its response to
Trump's peace proposal
[October 03, 2025]
By WAFAA SHURAFA and BASSEM MROUE
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at
least 57 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, health officials said Thursday,
as Hamas was still considering its response to U.S. President Donald
Trump's proposal for ending the nearly two-year war.
The plan requires Hamas to return all 48 hostages — about 20 of them
thought by Israel to still be alive — give up power and disarm in return
for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and an end to
fighting. However, the proposal, which has been accepted by Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sets no path to Palestinian
statehood.
Palestinians long for the war to end but many believe the plan favors
Israel, and a Hamas official told The Associated Press that some
elements were unacceptable, without elaborating. Qatar and Egypt, two
key mediators, said certain elements require more negotiations.
At least 29 people were killed by Israeli fire in southern Gaza,
according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Officials there
said 14 of them were killed in an Israeli military corridor where there
have been frequent shootings around the distribution of humanitarian
aid.
Officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah
said they had received 16 dead from Israeli strikes.
Doctors Without Borders said one of its occupational therapists was
killed while waiting for a bus in Deir al-Balah, in a strike that
seriously wounded four other people. The international charity described
Omar Hayek, 42, as a “quiet man of profound kindness and
professionalism.”
Hayek, who had recently fled south from Gaza City, is the 14th staffer
from the organization to have been killed in Gaza since the start of the
war, it said.
In Gaza City, health officials at Shifa Hospital said they received five
bodies and several wounded people, adding that its staff are having
difficulties reaching the hospital as Israel wages a major offensive
aimed at occupying the city.
Other hospitals reported an additional seven deaths from Israeli fire.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which says it
only strikes militants and accuses Hamas of putting civilians in danger
by operating in populated areas.
Israel intercepts activist aid flotilla
Israel has meanwhile intercepted most of the more than 40 vessels in a
widely watched flotilla carrying a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid
for Palestinians and aiming to break Israel's 18-year blockade of Gaza,
according to organizers.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on social media that activists on board —
including Greta Thunberg and several European lawmakers — were safe and
were being taken to Israel to begin “procedures” for their deportation.
In the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian militant was killed and another
arrested on Thursday after they carried out a car-ramming and shooting
attack on an Israeli army checkpoint, the military said, adding that no
soldiers were wounded.
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A displaced Palestinian boy looks at smoke rising into the sky
following an Israeli military strike in Gaza City, as seen from the
central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem
Hana)
Awaiting word from Hamas
A senior Hamas official told The Associated Press on Wednesday that
some points in the proposal agreed upon by Trump and Netanyahu are
unacceptable and must be amended, without elaborating.
He said the official response will only come after consultations
with other Palestinian factions. Speaking on condition of anonymity
because he was not authorized to talk to the media about the ongoing
talks, the official said Hamas had conveyed its concerns to Qatar
and Egypt.
The Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 that
triggered the war killed some 1,200 people while 251 others were
abducted. Most of the hostages have been freed under previous
ceasefire deals.
The Trump plan would guarantee the flow of humanitarian aid and
promises reconstruction in Gaza, placing its more than 2 million
Palestinians under international governance.
Mounting toll in Gaza
Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 66,200 Palestinians
and wounded nearly 170,000 others, according to Gaza’s Health
Ministry. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and
militants in its toll, but has said women and children make up
around half the dead.
The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government. U.N. agencies and
many independent experts view its figures as the most reliable
estimate of wartime casualties.
Around 400,000 Palestinians have fled famine-stricken Gaza City
since Israel launched a major offensive there last month. On
Thursday morning, smoke could be seen in northern Gaza and people
were fleeing the area headed south.
Israel’s defense minister on Wednesday ordered all remaining
Palestinians to leave Gaza City, saying it was their “last
opportunity” and that anyone who stayed would be considered a
militant supporter.
While Hamas’ military capabilities have been vastly depleted, it
still carries out sporadic attacks. On Wednesday, at least seven
projectiles were launched into Israel from Gaza, but all were either
intercepted or fell in open areas, with no reports of casualties,
the Israeli military said.
___
Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Giovanna
Dell’Orto in Jerusalem and Renata Brito in Barcelona, Spain,
contributed to this report.
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