Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan stalls as Hamas denies receiving proposals

Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza appeared to stall Sunday after Hamas said it had not received any ceasefire proposals from the U.S. president, despite Trump’s comments to reporters on Friday that a deal was near. At the White House, Trump told reporters: 'It’s looking like we have a deal on Gaza, and we’ll let you know. I think it’s a deal that will get the hostages back. It’s going to be a deal that will end the war.' A Hamas official later insisted: 'Hamas has not been presented with any plan.'

Hamas’s denial comes amid media reports that, under the plan, Hamas would release all Israeli hostages it still holds in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, along with a gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops and an end to Hamas rule in Gaza. Trump is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, whose hard-right coalition has long opposed ending the conflict before Hamas is defeated.

Across Gaza, the war’s toll continued to mount. Israel said its aircraft had struck 120 targets in Gaza over the previous day as troops pressed deeper into Gaza City. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 74 people had been killed in Gaza in the past 24 hours. Doctors Without Borders said it was suspending medical activities in Gaza City after clinics there were encircled by Israeli forces, describing the move as the 'last thing' it wanted. Since the fighting began on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli forces have killed more than 65,000 Palestinians in the enclave, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health authorities, and the population has been displaced.