By Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) -Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas which took part in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, endorsed on Saturday the group’s response to the U.S. plan to end the war in Gaza.
Islamic Jihad’s approval of the plan could help facilitate the release of hostages held by both groups in Gaza.
“Hamas’ (reaction) to Trump’s plan represents the position of the Palestinian resistance factions, and the Islamic Jihad participated responsibly in the consultations that led to this decision,” it said in a statement.
Israel, meanwhile, struck Gaza on Saturday, local authorities said, after U.S. President Donald Trump had called for a halt to the bombing and said Hamas is ready for peace, agreeing to release hostages and accepting some other terms in his plan to end the war.
Israeli fire killed six people across Gaza Strip, local authorities said. One strike killed four people in a house in Gaza City while another killed two others in Khan Younis in the south, medical workers and local authorities said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said early on Saturday that Israel was preparing for an “immediate implementation” of the first stage of Trump’s Gaza plan for the release of Israeli hostages following Hamas’ response.
Shortly after, Israeli media reported that the country’s political echelon had instructed the military to reduce offensive activity in Gaza.
The U.S. plan and Hamas’ reaction raised spirits among traumatized residents of Gaza, which has been reduced to rubble by two years of Israeli air strikes.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive, it saves the people, and thank God that they (Hamas) agreed. This is enough, good people. We are tired, I swear to God, we are tired, tired,” said Palestinian Saoud Qarneyta, 32.
The Israeli military chief of staff instructed forces in a statement to advance readiness for the implementation of the first phase of Trump’s plan, without mentioning whether there would be reduction of military activity in Gaza.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, responded to Trump’s 20-point plan after the U.S. president gave the group until Sunday to accept or face grave consequences.
Trump, who has cast himself as the only person capable of achieving peace in Gaza, has invested significant political capital in efforts to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and left U.S. ally Israel increasingly isolated on the world stage.
Trump said on Friday he believed Hamas had shown it was “ready for a lasting PEACE” and he put the onus on Netanyahu’s government.
“Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“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.”
Netanyahu’s office said Israel “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.”
Before Israel’s latest announcements, families of those being held by Hamas in Gaza called on Netanyahu “to immediately order negotiations for the return of all hostages.”
Domestically, the prime minister is caught between growing pressure to end the war — from hostage families and a war-weary public — and demands from hardline members of his far-right coalition who insist there must be no let-up in Israel’s campaign in Gaza.
Israel began its offensive in Gaza after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken as hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel says 48 hostages remain, 20 of whom are alive.
Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 66,000 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities. Its assault has destroyed much of the strip while aid restrictions have triggered a famine in parts of Gaza, with conditions dire across the enclave.
(Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Susan Fenton)
