Live updates on Israel's war against Hamas

Hamas said on Saturday it remained ready to proceed with a US-backed Gaza peace plan and urged pressure on Israel, which insists it did not agree to the latest part of the deal.

Hamas informed US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace that it stood by the latest stage of the plan, under which they would hand over weapons to a nascent Palestinian governing committee in the war-battered territory.

"Hamas and other factions have confirmed to mediators their readiness to begin implementing the agreement and move to the second phase, provided it receives Israeli approval and that Israel begins implementing the agreement," a Hamas official told AFP.

"Hamas is urging the US administration to exert pressure on Israel to compel it to abide by the agreement and move to the second phase," the official said on condition of anonymity.

A joint statement by foreign ministers of several regional countries on Thursday strongly condemned ongoing Israeli violations in Gaza.

Joint statement by Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia, Jordan.

Ministers express "strongest condemnation and denunciation of the ongoing Israeli violations in the Gaza Strip".

Statement condemns Israeli attacks on healthcare facilities, medical infrastructure, civilian infrastructure, continued loss of civilian lives.

Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir has said the army will continue “proactive” operations in Gaza, according to a statement from the Israeli military.

“We have significantly weakened Hamas and changed the security reality,” Zamir said during a field tour in Gaza. 

“We will continue to act proactively in the Gaza Strip, remove threats and defend Israeli communities and residents.

“A clear example of this is the pursuit of Nukhba fighters and everyone who took part in planning and carrying out the October 7 attack,” he said, referring to the special force unit of Hamas’s military wing.

Zamir’s remarks come days after the Board of Peace’s Gaza representative, Nickolay Mladenov, met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss a plan to disarm Hamas and transfer the enclave to civilian governance. Mladenov also urged Israel to halt its attacks on Gaza as the board moved forward with the agreement, according to AP.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday Tehran would support any initiative or decision taken by Palestinian leaders in ongoing indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel, Iranian state media reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel did not agree to a US-backed plan for Gaza, even after receiving assurances that an Israeli pullout would only happen after Hamas disarms.

In a video posted to his social media accounts on Tuesday night, Netanyahu said the team of US President Donald Trump "believes that they can bring about the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarisation of Gaza. We are checking this. They sent us a draft — we did not agree to it, it is not our draft. We sent our comments."

Netanyahu met with the US-backed Board of Peace on Monday and received guarantees that the Israeli army would only be required to leave its current positions in Gaza after Hamas disarms.

But pressure has been growing on the premier from his far-right coalition partners to reject the deal.

A Board of Peace official has said that efforts are now focused on implementing the Gaza roadmap and advancing Trump’s broader ceasefire plan, Al Jazeera reported.

“Trump’s plan offers Palestinians a better future without Hamas rule and provides security for Israelis,” the official told Al Jazeera Arabic.

The official added that a week ago, few expected Hamas to accept handing power to a technocratic government and giving up its weapons.

“We must now implement the roadmap. A long and difficult process lies ahead,” the official said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israeli troops “are not withdrawing from the current lines in Gaza until Hamas is completely disarmed”, according to a video posted on Facebook and cited by the Times of Israel newspaper.

Netanyahu was quoted as saying that “Trump thinks, and his team thinks, that Hamas can be totally disarmed and Gaza demilitarised – we’re looking into it”.

“They sent us a draft, we didn’t agree. It wasn’t our draft. We sent our responses,” he said, adding that those responses had been sent before the issue was taken up by the media, according to the Times of Israel.

Israeli forces have carried out several new raids in the occupied West Bank, storming the towns of Beit Fajjar and al-Lubban Asharqiya, Al Jazeera reported, citing a report from the Wafa news agency.

Israeli forces fired tear gas and stun grenades in both towns, while also raiding and damaging a commercial kiosk in Beit Fajjar, said the agency.

Earlier, Israeli forces vandalised several Palestinian monuments in Tulkarem and a nearby town, in what the local governor called “a blatant attack on public property”, reported Wafa.