Hamas has said it remains ready to implement the second phase of the US-backed peace plan for Gaza, calling on Washington to pressure Israel to begin implementing the deal. A Hamas official told AFP that the group and other Palestinian factions had confirmed to mediators their readiness to move to the second phase, provided that Israel gives its approval and begins implementing the deal.

According to the plan presented by US President Donald Trump, the second phase envisages linking the process of disarming Hamas with the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. “Hamas calls on the US administration to put pressure on Israel to force it to implement the agreement,” the official said, requesting anonymity. Trump had welcomed Hamas’s declaration last week of readiness for disarmament as part of the peace plan, along with the gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Palestinian territory.

Meanwhile, after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the UN envoy for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, said that the Israeli withdrawal would only happen after Hamas had been fully disarmed. Netanyahu, who faces strong political opposition to the deal and is campaigning for elections in October, has said he does not accept the plan in its current form. The Israeli military has meanwhile warned that it will continue operations against Hamas, the group that carried out the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which triggered one of the worst crises in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Despite the peace plan discussions, reports of new incidents in Gaza continue. Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis reported today that three people were injured by Israeli fire. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 1,257 Palestinians have been killed since the October ceasefire. The United Nations considers the figures published by the ministry to be generally reliable. On the other hand, the Israeli military has reported the deaths of five soldiers and one civilian contractor during the same period.