Trump Announces Israel's Temporary Halt to Gaza Bombings

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Trump Announces Israel's Temporary Halt to Gaza Bombings
Photo: Evan Vucci/AP/TT

New talks about the hostage that Hamas is holding and an end to the war in Gaza are expected in the beginning of next week. President Donald Trump announces at the same time that Israel "has temporarily stopped the bombings to give a settlement about the hostage and peace a chance".

Trump urges terror-listed Hamas to act quickly.

"I do not tolerate delays, which many believe will happen, or a result where Gaza constitutes a threat again. Let's get this done, FAST. Everyone will be treated fairly!" he writes on Truth Social.

In a later post, Trump states that Israel has agreed to a first withdrawal of forces from the Gaza Strip, to a line "shown and shared with Hamas".

"When Hamas confirms, the ceasefire will take effect IMMEDIATELY, the exchange of hostages and prisoners will begin, and we will create the conditions for the next phase of withdrawal", he writes and calls it a "3,000-year-old catastrophe".

Kushner to Egypt

A first round of the new indirect negotiations between Israel, the US and Hamas is planned for Monday, according to Egypt's Foreign Ministry, quoted by the newspaper Haaretz.

The White House confirms that the US delegation is led by Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and the Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, writes AFP.

The message comes after Hamas said on Friday evening that it was ready to release all remaining hostages and initiate immediate negotiations on the "details" of the proposed ceasefire agreement.

The Israeli military has been instructed to prepare for the first phase of Trump's plan, reports The Times of Israel. The army is said to have been ordered to take a defensive position and pause the "conquest" of Gaza City.

Disarmament divides

Hamas also said on Friday that it had approved plans to let a technocratic government take over in Gaza.

Trump's plan for a ceasefire states that all hostages, living and dead, must be returned within 72 hours after an agreement is reached. Hours after Hamas' cautiously positive message, a Hamas leader told Al Jazeera that the deadline is "unrealistic".

Hamas has not commented on the demand for disarmament, which the agreement stipulates and Israel has long demanded. According to sources to The Wall Street Journal, the movement is deeply divided on the disarmament issue.

Meanwhile, from the Gaza Strip, there are reports of continued Israeli attacks.

At least 57 people have been killed on Saturday, including 40 in Gaza City, says Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza's Hamas-controlled civil defense, to AFP.

Al-Shifa Hospital reports that several people have been killed but also that the bombings have "decreased significantly", writes AP.

The proposal that US President Donald Trump has put forward for peace in Gaza consists of 20 points.

They were drawn up in consultation with several influential countries from the Arab and Muslim world. Trump then met Israel's Prime Minister, who accepted the proposal, with some detailed changes.

The proposal stipulates, above all, an immediate end to the war, the release of all hostages held by Hamas, independent distribution of emergency aid to Gaza's population, a step-by-step withdrawal of Israel's military, and disarmament of Hamas.

After that, a technocratic transitional government will take over, with international forces on site and a governing council with Donald Trump as chairman. Gaza "will be a deradicalized terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors" and will be rebuilt "for the benefit of Gaza's population".

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By TTEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for our readers

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