Death toll in in the Israel-Hamas war passes 67,000 Palestinians, Gaza’s Health Ministry says
Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli military strike in the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel Friday Oct AP Photo Leo Correa AP Leo Correa Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli military strike in the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel Friday Oct AP Photo Leo Correa AP Leo Correa TEL AVIV Israel AP The death toll in the nearly two-year Israel-Hamas war has passed Palestinians Gaza s Robustness Ministry disclosed Saturday The death toll jumped after the ministry declared it added more than names to the list whose figures had been verified It comes as Israel s military announced it is preparing for the first phase of U S President Donald Trump s plan to end the war in Gaza and return all of the remaining hostages The army has moved to a defensive only position and will not actively strike according to an official who was not authorized to speak to the media THIS IS A LATEST NEWS UPDATE AP s earlier story follows below TEL AVIV Israel AP Israel s army revealed Saturday that it would advance preparations for the first phase of U S President Donald Trump s plan to end the war in Gaza and return all the remaining hostages after Hamas announced it accepted parts of the deal while others still needed to be negotiated The army reported it was instructed by Israel s leaders to advance readiness for the implementation of the plan An official who was not authorized to speak to the media on the record commented that Israel has moved to a defensive-only position in Gaza and will not actively strike The official noted no forces have been removed from the strip This announcement came hours after Trump ordered Israel to stop bombing Gaza once Hamas reported it had accepted a few elements of his plan Trump welcomed the Hamas declaration saying I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE Trump appears keen to deliver on pledges to end the war and return dozens of hostages ahead of the second anniversary of the attack on Tuesday His proposal unveiled earlier this week has widespread international patronage and was also endorsed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu On Friday Netanyahu s office announced Israel was committed to ending the war that began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct without addressing prospective gaps with the militant group Netanyahu has come under increasing pressure from the international neighborhood and Trump to end the conflict The official recounted the AP that Netanyahu put out the rare late-night report on the sabbath saying that Israel has started to prepare for Trump s plan due to pressure from the U S administration The official also mentioned that a negotiating club was getting ready to excursion but there was no date specified A senior Egyptian official says talks are underway for the release of hostages as well as hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention The official who is involved in the ceasefire negotiations also explained Arab mediators are preparing for a comprehensive dialogue among Palestinians The talks are aimed at unifying the Palestinian position towards Gaza s future On Saturday the Palestinian Islamic Jihad the second preponderance powerful militant group in Gaza commented it accepted Hamas response to the Trump plan The group had previously rejected the proposal days earlier Progress but uncertainty ahead Yet despite the momentum a lot of questions remain Under the plan Hamas would release the remaining hostages around of them inferred to be alive within three days It would also give up power and disarm In return Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from much of the territory release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow an influx of humanitarian aid and eventual reconstruction Hamas declared it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians Its official message also didn t address the issue of Hamas demilitarizing a key part of the deal Amir Avivi a retired Israeli general and chairman of Israel s Defense and Assurance Forum revealed while Israel can afford to stop firing for a sparse days in Gaza so the hostages can be published it will resume its offensive if Hamas doesn t lay down its arms Others say that while Hamas suggests a willingness to negotiate its position fundamentally remains unchanged This yes but rhetoric purely repackages old demands in softer language revealed Oded Ailam a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Guard and Foreign Affairs The gap between appearance and action is as wide as ever and the rhetorical shift serves more as a smokescreen than a signal of true movement toward resolution he noted Unclear what it means for Palestinians suffering in Gaza The next measures are also unclear for Palestinians in Gaza who are trying to piece together what it means in real terms What we want is practical implementation We want a truce on the ground declared Samir Abdel-Hady in Gaza s Khan Younis He worried that talks will break down like they ve done in the past Israeli troops are still laying siege to Gaza City which is the focus of its latest offensive On Saturday Israel s army warned Palestinians against trying to return to the city calling it a dangerous combat zone Experts determined that Gaza City had slid into famine shortly before Israel launched its major offensive there aimed at occupying it An estimated people have fled the city in new weeks but hundreds of thousands more have stayed behind Families of the hostages are also cautious about being hopeful There are concerns from all sides disclosed Yehuda Cohen whose son Nimrod is held in Gaza Hamas and Netanyahu could sabotage the deal or Trump could lose interest he revealed Still he says if it s going to happen it will be because of Trump We re putting our trust in Trump because he s the only one who s doing it And we want to see him with us until the last step he stated Magdy published from Cairo Follow AP s war coverage at https apnews com hub israel-hamas-war Source
