Gaza death toll mounts as Hamas is still considering its response to Trump's peace proposal

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DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas was still considering its response to U.S. President Donald Trump's peace proposal aimed at ending the nearly two-year war in Gaza as Israeli strikes overnight killed at least 13 Palestinians in the besieged territory, local hospitals said Thursday.

The plan, which has received wide international support, requires Hamas to release all remaining hostages, leave power in Gaza and disarm in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners and an end to fighting. However, the proposal, which has been accepted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sets no path to Palestinian statehood.

In Gaza, meanwhile, nine people — almost all women — were killed when a house was hit in the eastern part of the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, and three people died when a strike hit a tent, also in Deir al-Balah, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital.

In Gaza City, health officials at the Shifa hospital said they received one body and several injured people, adding that its staff is having difficulties in getting to the hospital.

By Thursday morning, Israel had also intercepted most of about 40 vessels in a widely watched flotilla carrying a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid for Palestinians and aiming to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, according to organizers.

Israel’s foreign ministry said on social media that activists on board – who included several European lawmakers – were safe and were being taken to Israel to begin “procedures” for their deportations to their home countries.

A senior Hamas official told The Associated Press on Wednesday that some points in the proposal agreed upon by Trump and Netanyahu are unacceptable and must be amended, without elaborating.

He said the official response will only come after consultations with other Palestinian factions. Speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media about the ongoing talks, the official said Hamas had conveyed its concerns to Qatar and Egypt, two key mediators that have expressed support for the plan, albeit with some reservations.

The Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 that triggered the war killed some 1,200 people while 251 others were abducted. Most of the hostages have been freed under previous ceasefire deals, but 48 are still held in Gaza — around 20 believed by Israel to be alive.

The plan guarantees the flow of humanitarian aid and promises reconstruction in Gaza, placing it and its more than 2 million Palestinians under international governance.

Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 170,000 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its toll, but has said women and children make up around half the dead.

The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government. U.N. agencies and many independent experts view its figures as the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

Around 400,000 Palestinians have fled famine-stricken Gaza City since Israel launched a major offensive there last month. On Thursday morning, smoke could be seen in Northern Gaza and people were fleeing the area headed south, the only direction of travel allowed on the main north-south road in the strip since midday Wednesday.

Israel’s defense minister on Wednesday ordered all remaining Palestinians to leave Gaza City, saying it was their “last opportunity” and that anyone who stayed would be considered a militant supporter and face the “full force” of Israel’s latest offensive.

While Hamas’ military capabilities have been vastly depleted, it still carries out attacks. On Wednesday, at least seven projectiles were launched into Israel from Gaza, but all were either intercepted or fell in open areas, with no reports of casualties, the Israeli military said.

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Associated Press writers Giovanna Dell’Orto in Jerusalem and Renata Brito in Barcelona, Spain, contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war