Hamas: 'We will release Israeli hostages under Trump plan'. OK to cede Strip government to Palestinian body

The Palestinian movement Hamas expressed in a statement today its agreement to transfer control of the Gaza Strip "to a Palestinian body, based on Arab and Islamic support". However, the terrorist organisation said that "further issues mentioned in Trump's proposal" need to be discussed.

The Palestinian movement Hamas announced in a statement that it 'agrees to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under Trump's proposal on Gaza'. The group added that it was ready to immediately start mediation negotiations to discuss the details.

The Palestinian movement Hamas handed mediators its response to US President Donald Trump's 21-point plan for Gaza, the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera reported today, citing a source familiar with the matter. According to the Qatari broadcaster Al-Araby reported that Hamas praised Trump and asked for clarification on certain details of the plan.

The group's reaction was transmitted through channels working with international intermediaries, although the content of the response was not disclosed.

According to Arab media sources, Hamas forwarded to the mediators this evening its response to the Trump plan for the release of hostages and the end of the war, asking for clarification of certain paragraphs in the document. The Qatari channel Al-Arabi reports that in the response delivered to the mediators, Hamas praised President Trump's efforts. (ANSA).

Since dawn today, at least 72 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in the Strip. The death toll includes 42 people killed in Gaza City. Al Jazeera reports. Two children were killed in the Israeli shelling of several homes in the Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza.

"After their abduction in international waters, the participants (in the mission of the Global Sumud Flotilla, ed.) were forced to kneel with their hands tied with clamps for at least five hours, after some of them had chanted slogans in favour of the liberation of Palestine". This was reported by the NGO Adalah, which handles the legal representation of activists detained by Israel. "During the lawyers' visits, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir arrived with the obvious intention of humiliating and intimidating them," reads a note, "the participants in the flotilla were filmed and exploited in a degrading display of control. This humiliation occurred in parallel with the smear campaign conducted by Israeli officials, who falsely labelled the flotilla members as 'terrorists' in an attempt to discredit their peaceful mission and legitimise the repressive tactics used against them".

Two more children have died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza in the last 24 hours. Updating the death toll is the Palestinian news agency Wafa, which cites medical sources: in total there have been 457 deaths since the beginning of the war, of which 152 were children. The famine was first officially declared in Gaza by the UN-backed global hunger observatory Ipc on 22 August 2025. "After 22 months of unremitting conflict, more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip face catastrophic conditions of hunger, misery and death," the Ipc declared at the time.

At least 60 Palestinians were killed in attacks carried out since dawn by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip. This was reported by the Palestinian news agency Wafa, pointing out that the three hospitals in the north of the Strip - Al-Shifa, Al-Ahli and Al-Awda - received 39 deaths, while the Nasser hospital, in Khan Younis, received 20 deaths, and the al-Aqsa hospital, in Deir al-Balah, one death.

At least 51 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since dawn. Al Jazeera writes this, citing medical sources in the enclave. Among the victims, 34 people were killed in Gaza City, the broadcaster says.

A group of demonstrators protested today against the operations of Maersk and ZIM in Port Elizabeth, New Jersey, saying they wanted to block arms supplies used in the Gaza Strip. This was reported by the American Drop Site, publishing photos of the protest that took place at what it called 'a major east coast hub for arms exports to Israel'.

The organisers stated that the protest was in solidarity with the demonstrations launched at ports in Spain, Italy, France, Sweden, Greece and with the Global Sumud Flotilla and, 'above all, with the people and children of Gaza'.

''With regard to recent developments concerning the so-called 'Global Sumud Flotilla', I wish to firmly express the deep indignation of the State of Israel at the distorted and instrumental narrative that has accompanied this initiative''. This was stated in a note by the Israeli ambassador to Italy, Jonathan Peled. ''Presented as a humanitarian mission, it has in fact turned out to be a deliberate political provocation, orchestrated with the aim of undermining Israel's legitimacy and furthering the propaganda of extremist groups,'' the ambassador wrote in 'X'. ''As it stands, the boats and passengers carried less than the amount of humanitarian aid contained in a single truck. A derisory number compared to the more than one thousand five hundred convoys that have entered Gaza through official channels in the last week alone. Israel offered safe and legitimate channels for the delivery of aid, including the port of Ashkelon and the mediation of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, but these proposals were deliberately ignored by the Flotilla organisers,'' Peled said. This distorted and ideologised narrative moved at a political and propagandistic level has had concrete and dangerous consequences in Italian cities with episodes of tension during demonstrations and strikes, and in some cases with initiatives that have even taken on openly anti-Semitic connotations,'' Peled continued, stating that ''such drifts cannot be underestimated, nor normalised: feeding a hostile and unfounded narrative against Israel contributes to creating a climate of hatred that jeopardises civil coexistence and the democratic values on which Italian and European institutions are founded''.

Brazilian documentary filmmaker and activist Miguel Viveiros de Castro has been missing since Wednesday, after the Catalina sailing ship on which a group of activists were travelling to Gaza was intercepted by Israeli security forces. This was reported by the O Globo portal, G1. A few hours before losing contact with his family, the filmmaker had recorded his last video in which he recounted the tension and fear at the approach of the Tel Aviv ships. "They are coming, any moment we will throw our phones in the water. It's starting,' the carioca filmmaker, known for his work on social movements, human rights and environmental issues, said in an alarmed tone. In videos posted earlier, Miguel had already feared the risk of kidnapping. 'If I fail to give new updates, we have probably been taken and held in Israel awaiting deportation,' he stated. In a public note, parents Marta and Luiz Rodolfo Viveiros de Castro denounce the incident as a crime and demand truth and concrete action. The family members urge the Brazilian government and international institutions to immediately verify the status of the activist and formally acknowledge his disappearance.

The 19 Swiss activists, including at least two from Ticino, detained by Israel as they were approaching Gaza on the boats of the Global Sumud Flotilla were taken to the prison in the Negev desert in Israel. This was reported by the Ats news agency. They are all well, Hicham El Ghaoui, president of the flotilla's Swiss delegation, told the Keystone-Ats news agency today. The organisation's lawyers were able to meet with them, the agency reports. The interrogations of the activists, conducted by the Israeli authorities, lasted about fifteen hours, according to El Ghaoui. Some of the activists, the agency further writes, went on hunger strike, while others signed a document acknowledging that they had entered Israeli territory illegally, resulting in their immediate expulsion. Israeli law allows activists to be held in pre-trial detention for three days. Once expelled from Israel they will be put on board planes bound for London and Madrid airports. The organisers of the flotilla are in contact with the families and relatives of the arrested Swiss, as well as with the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, El Ghaoui added. The department indicated on X this morning that it had been informed that the Israeli boarding operation of the Global Sumud Flotilla had ended. The services of Ignazio Cassis remain in contact with the Israeli authorities in order to guarantee consular protection for the Swiss citizens concerned.

A consensus is forming among the Gulf states that the Trump plan for Gaza should be implemented even without the consent of Hamas: Bloomberg reports, citing sources familiar with the matter. One Gulf country official described the Trump plan as 'the best since the beginning of the war', adding that 'no one is willing to miss the opportunity'. The plan would be promoted in areas of the Strip declared by the IDF to be free of Hamas militias as reconstruction begins. And "even if the plan is deemed imperfect and vague in some points, the time has come to end the fighting," it stressed.

At least 49 Palestinians were killed today in Israeli attacks in Gaza. This was reported by hospital sources to Al Jazeera. Among the victims were 31 people who were killed in Gaza City, where Israel has intensified its air and ground offensive.

The Turkish head of state, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said that an end to attacks by Israel is "crucial" for Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan to succeed. During a phone call to the US president, the Turkish leader "emphasised that an end to attacks by Israel is crucial for the success of efforts to establish peace in the region", reports the Ankara Republic Presidency. "Turkey has accelerated its diplomatic efforts for peace," Erdogan added, expressing satisfaction with Trump's proposed initiative.

"An agreement with Hamas must be reached by Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m. Washington, D.C. time! If this LAST POSSIBILITY agreement is not reached, an INFERNO like no one has ever seen before will be unleashed against Hamas. THERE WILL BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER'. Donald Trump writes this in a post on Truth.

According to medical sources, at least 63 Palestinians were killed and another 227 wounded in the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours by the Israeli army. This was reported by the Palestinian news agency Wafa. Local health authorities confirmed that the Palestinian death toll from the Israeli attack since October 2023 has risen to 66,288, with a further 169,165 people injured. Most of the victims are women and children. Hospitals also reported that 15 aid seekers were killed and another 80 injured by Israeli shelling and gunfire during the same reporting period, bringing the death toll among aid seekers to 2,597 since March 2025, with another 19,054 injured.

The WHO representative in Gaza, Rik Peeperkorn, made an impassioned plea for 'more countries to accept Palestinian patients in their hospitals'. According to WHO figures, 15,600 patients, including 3,800 children, are currently in need of urgent medical evacuation due to the collapsing health situation in the strip. The symbol of the disaster is the Al-Shifa complex, located in the heart of Gaza City and long considered the largest hospital in the territory, which according to Peeperkorn now houses only a handful of patients, after having been devastated by continuous Israeli attacks and ground attacks. Few facilities continue to accommodate an ever-increasing number of patients. "Currently, only 14 of Gaza's 36 hospitals are even partially operational," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, whose figures indicate that 66,000 people have been killed and nearly 170,000 injured since the beginning of the conflict in Gaza. The agency estimates that at least a quarter of the survivors have suffered serious injuries. Almost 5,000 people have had limbs amputated; thousands more are living with spinal cord injuries, severe burns or head trauma. In addition, every week at least fifteen women give birth outside a medical centre, without qualified assistance, and very few babies can benefit from the few ventilators available. Often several babies are placed in an incubator and, due to the lack of equipment, doctors are forced to choose which babies can be treated. Finally, the WHO director mentioned that the war has not spared health and humanitarian workers. Nearly 1,800 health workers and at least 543 humanitarian aid workers have been killed since the beginning of the conflict.

The Flotilla activists detained in Israel "are being transferred to Saharonim Prison, near Ketsiot Prison, with the exception of those from the Marinette boat, intercepted today. Several, including our vice-president Alexis Deswaef, refused to sign documents falsely recognising an 'illegal entry' into Israeli territory and went on hunger strike. A hearing at the prison is planned'. This was announced by the International Federation for Human Rights, of which Adalah, the Flotilla's legal team, is a member.

Hospitals in the Gaza Strip have recorded at least 63 dead and 227 wounded in Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours. This brings the death toll in the conflict that erupted on 7 October 2023 to 66,288 dead and 169,165 injured, according to the Palestinian enclave's Ministry of Health.

"I think they should be kept here for a few months in an Israeli prison, so that they get used to the smell of the terrorist wing," says Israeli ultra-right minister Itamar Ben Gvir about the Flotilla activists awaiting deportation. Ben Gvir, in a video message posted on X, said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is making a "mistake" in expelling them, "because this will encourage them to return again and again and again".

The plane from Tel Aviv with the four Italian parliamentarians who were on board the Global Sumud Flotilla ships landed at Fiumicino airport.

"We found no food aid on the hijacked boats". The Israeli ambassador in Rome Jonathan Peled told L'Aria che Tira on La7, reiterating that the Flotilla was a "provocation".

"Many demonstrators don't even know what they are protesting about, they are anti-establishment, they are anti-government. It's a protest that has nothing to do with Gaza and the Palestinians," said the ambassador, responding to a question about the manifestations in Italy. "I am very careful to label anti-Semitism, but without a doubt there is ignorance, fake news, incitement and radicalism, and even fanatical anarchists who unite to attack the establishment, to attack the Italian government. They shout 'Free Palestine', but they don't even know what they are shouting'.

"Procedures are underway to end the Hamas-Sumud provocation and finalise the expulsion of the participants in this farce. Four Italian citizens have already been expelled. The others are in the process of being expelled. Israel wishes to end this procedure as quickly as possible'. The Israeli Foreign Ministry writes this on X posting photos "of Greta Thunberg and the other participants in this provocation as they arrive in Israel". "They are all safe and sound," it adds.

The UN reiterates that there is no safe place for Palestinians ordered to leave Gaza City and that the areas designated by Israel in the south are 'places of death'. "The idea of a safe zone in the south is a farce," Unicef spokesman James Elder told reporters in Geneva, speaking from the Gaza Strip, pointing out that "bombs are being dropped from the sky with chilling predictability; schools, which were designated as temporary shelters, are regularly reduced to rubble, tents are regularly enveloped in airstrike fire"

'There was, however, as far as we know an indecent show by Ben Gvir in front of the Flotilla activists squatting on the ground: they were insulted and called terrorists'. Thus Angelo Bonelli of Avs recounting what allegedly happened to the Flotilla activists.

"The four parliamentarians, with whom I spoke this morning, are leaving Ben Gurion Airport. They are accompanied by a diplomat from our embassy in Tel Aviv". This was said by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaking to journalists about the Italians of the Flotilla detained by Israel. Including the four parliamentarians, who "have been granted immunity". Tajani said he had "spoken with them while they were at the airport and they are fine. I also warned the leaders of their parties, of course the president of the Council, of the development of the situation," he added, on the sidelines of an event at the Maxxi.

Hamas needs more time to study the peace plan for Gaza presented by US President Donald Trump and supported by Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu. "Hamas is still continuing consultations on Trump's plan ... and informed the mediators that the consultations are ongoing and take time," an official said on condition of anonymity. On Tuesday Trump gave Hamas an ultimatum of "three to four days" to accept his plan to end the war in the Palestinian territories

A Sumud Flotilla boat, which had attempted to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza, has docked in Cyprus. This was announced by the island's government. The boat, with 21 people on board, asked to dock in Larnaca for refuelling and humanitarian reasons, a government spokesman said on X. The spokesman did not identify the boat or say whether it was among those intercepted by the Israeli Navy. After registering all the passengers, Cyprus provided for their basic needs and offered consular assistance, the spokesman added.

Israeli police say that 470 activists arrested by the Israeli Navy on board the Sumud Flotilla attempting to break the Israeli sea blockade on the Gaza Strip have been processed by security forces. According to the police, over 600 officers, along with prison officials and immigration representatives, were deployed to the port of Ashdod to receive the detained activists. The activists on the 41 boats underwent a 'thorough inspection process', police said, adding that they were handed over to the Population and Immigration Authority and the Israeli Prison Service for further investigation before deportation. A Global Sumud Flotilla ship is still on its way to Gaza and is expected to be intercepted by the Navy if it continues to approach.

"I spoke with the four Italian MPs released by the Israeli authorities and the other Italian activists of the Flotilla in Ashdod, they are all well, there was no mistreatment". This was stated by the ambassador of Italy to Israel, Luca Ferrari. "The Italian consul is about to meet the activists in Ketziot shortly. The Italian authorities are working to have all the other Italians released. The four released parliamentarians are already at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, they will leave for Rome Fiumicino at 10am," the ambassador added.

The Israeli police reported that 470 activists apprehended by the Israeli navy while on board the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was attempting to break the Israeli naval blockade on the Gaza Strip, were taken over by security forces.

According to reports, over 600 police officers, together with prison officials and immigration representatives, were deployed to the port of Ashdod to receive the detained activists.

The Israel Prison Service (Ips) announced that it has so far received over 200 detainees from the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla. In a statement, the Ips said that the detainees were transferred to Ktzi'ot Prison in the Negev, where they will undergo 'legal proceedings by the Population and Immigration Authority'.

The Farnesina informs that the four Italian parliamentarians who were part of the Flotilla have been released by the Israeli authorities. Senator Marco Croatti, MEP Annalisa Corrado, MEP Arturo Scotto and MEP Benedetta Scuderi had been detained as they approached the Gaza coastline.

Minister Tajani had had several contacts with Israeli Minister Saar demanding their immediate release. The Italian parliamentarians were transferred to Tel Aviv airport and will take a scheduled flight assisted by embassy staff. They will leave for Rome on flight IZ 335 at 10am local time.

"The naval blockade was considered legitimate ten years ago by the UN when the same against a Turkish boat even led to the death of ten people, so it is right to stop a boat, it is right to control. But our issue has never been to see legitimacy but to ensure the safety of all our people'. Thus Defence Minister Guido Crosetto to 'Diritto e Rovescio'.

Mohammed Nazzal, a member of the Hamas political bureau, told Al Jazeera Arabic that the Palestinian group will soon announce its position on the US proposal. Nazzal said that Hamas, as the representative of the Palestinian resistance, has the right to express its views "in a way that serves the interests" of the Palestinian people. The group is discussing Trump's plan with the aim of stopping Israel's war against Gaza, he added. Pointing out at the same time that "we are not approaching the plan with the logic that time is a sword at our throat".

The Italian Embassy in Tel Aviv has established initial telephone contact with some of the Italian citizens detained in the port of Ashdod after their detention on board the Flotilla ships. At the end of the Yom Kippur holiday, Italian diplomats spoke with the four detained parliamentarians and are continuing to have telephone contact with other compatriots before the consular visits that are scheduled to begin tomorrow. This was announced by the Farnesina.

Israeli TV Channel 12 reports feverish contacts in recent hours between the Italian authorities and Mossad chief David Barnea after reports spread that some arrested Flotilla activists were mistreated. The Italian authorities urgently asked Barnea to provide pictures of the detainees to verify conditions, making it clear that the rumour is fuelling protests in Rome. Barnea spoke to Ashdod Port Minister Miri Regev, urging her to provide pictures as a matter of urgency. The material was sent to Italy 'to end the diplomatic storm'.