IDF orders troops to halt offensive in Gaza but strikes continued overnight, say reports

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been ordered to halt the offensive in Gaza after Hamas partially accepted US President Donald Trump’s peace plan. However, some Palestinian media reports suggest that strikes are still being conducted in Gaza.

The IDF, early on Saturday, said that Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir instructed troops to “remove any threat.” Hamas has agreed to release all hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, following which Trump ordered Israel to “immediately” stop the bombardment of Gaza.

A report by Times of Israel mentioned Palestinian media as saying that four people were killed in a strike in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City, and artillery shelling was carried out in an area north of Bureij in central Gaza and in the Khan Younis area in the Strip’s south.

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Overnight, the IDF released a statement saying that “per the order of the political echelon,” Zamir had directed troops to prepare “for the implementation of the first stage of Trump’s plans to free the hostages.” The statement, issued after a meeting with top generals for “a special situational assessment in light of the developments,” did not specify what the order involved.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s civil defence agency has also said that Israel carried out dozens of air strikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City despite Trump’s appeal.

“It was a very violent night, during which the (Israeli army) carried out dozens of air strikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City and other areas in the Strip, despite President Trump’s call to halt the bombing,” civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

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Bassal, whose agency is a rescue force which operates under Hamas authority, added that 20 homes were destroyed in the overnight bombardments.

Gaza’s Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis said two children were killed and eight people were wounded in a drone strike on a tent in a camp for displaced Gazans.

The peace plan for Gaza, presented by Trump this week and backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages within 72 hours, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

With inputs from agencies