Hamas responded Friday to President Donald Trump's proposal for peace in Gaza, as the president gave a deadline of 6 p.m. ET Sunday to sign on to the plan he unveiled earlier this week.
Hamas said it will release all remaining hostages if Israel withdraws from Gaza and "proper field conditions are met." More negotiations will need to take place to finalize the deal, which Trump unveiled Monday while hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
Any agreement could mean an end to the Israel Defense Forces' operation to take control of Gaza City, the largest urban area in the Gaza Strip.
Multiple Western nations recognized Palestinian statehood in recent weeks while also demanding that Hamas not be part of any future government.
Netanyahu said that Israel will not allow an independent Palestinian state to exist.
51 killed, 2 starve to death in Gaza in 24 hours, health officials say
Israeli forces killed 51 Palestinians and wounded 180 others in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health said Wednesday afternoon.
A Palestinian child sits amid debris at a United Nations school -- where displaced people were taking shelter -- after it was hit by Israeli strikes, in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighborhood, on Oct. 1, 2025.
Ebrahim Hajjaj/Reuters
That brings the Palestinian death toll in Gaza since the ongoing war began on Oct. 7, 2023, to 66,148, according to the health ministry.
Among those killed over the past day were four people trying to collect humanitarian aid, while 57 others were injured, the health ministry said.
Two people, including a child, also starved to death over the past 24 hours, the ministry said on Wednesday.
That brings the total number of starvation deaths since Oct. 7, 2023, to 455, including 151 children, according to the health ministry.
-ABC News' Samy Zyara and Morgan Winsor
Oct 01, 2025, 3:24 AM EDT
Global Sumud Flotilla alleges Israeli harassment as ships approach Gaza
The Global Sumud Flotilla entered what it called the "high-risk zone" surrounding the Gaza Strip late on Tuesday, the organization said on its social media pages.
The flotilla is headed towards Gaza with humanitarian aid supplies and aims to break the naval blockade placed there by Israel’s military.
A group of ships of the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza are pictured moored at the island of Koufonisi, south of the Greek island of Crete, on Sept. 26, 2025.
Eleftherios Elis/AFP via Getty Images
The group reported an increase in drone activity over the flotilla as it approached Gaza. Israel has said it will not allow the flotilla’s vessels to reach the strip.
Early on Wednesday, the flotilla posted a statement alleging an "intimidatory operation" by Israeli ships, with two of its lead vessels reportedly "aggressively" circled by Israeli warships while onboard communications were remotely disabled.
Israel, Italy and the Vatican all made offers to help distribute the aid from the flotilla in a way that Israel's government would accept, but the flotilla has been proceeding closer to its destination point.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned those participating in the flotilla that going forward with their plan would "undermine any possibility of a ceasefire," in a post on X.
"The truth is simple: that aid can be delivered without risk through the secure channels already in place. Insisting on wanting to force a naval blockade means making oneself -- knowingly or not -- an instrument of those who want to undermine any possibility of a ceasefire," Meloni said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called for the flotilla to transfer the aid through "the Port of Cyprus, the Ashkelon Marina, or any other port in the region into Gaza," in a post on X Tuesday.
"The U.S., Israel, and leaders from the Middle East and around the world are trying to bring an end to the war," Saar said. "The focus should be on de-escalating, not on orchestrating provocations."
-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman
Sep 30, 2025, 11:16 AM EDT
Hamas has about '3 or 4 days' to respond to Gaza deal, Trump says
President Donald Trump told ABC News that he is giving Hamas "three or four days" to respond to the proposal he unveiled on Monday to end the war in Gaza. If they don’t sign on, Trump said, “it’s going to be a very sad end.”
He said that there was "not much" negotiating room for Hamas over this plan.
Asked what he meant when he said Israel can do what they have to do if Hamas rejects the deal and what he envisions that will look like, Trump reiterated, "I will let them go and do what they have to do. They can do it pretty easily. I would let them go and do what they have to do."
"They paid a big price," he said of Hamas. "We hope that they’re going to have a nice, calm life. Maybe it won’t happen but if it does, it’ll be one of the greatest things to ever happen. We’ll have actual peace in the Middle East.
-ABC News' Mary Bruce and Isabella Murray
Sep 30, 2025, 9:35 AM EDT
2 Israeli teenagers injured in a car-ramming incident in West Bank
Two Israeli teenagers were injured in a car-ramming incident in the West Bank on Tuesday, the Israeli military and medical emergency services confirmed.
The IDF described the incident as a terrorist attack, stating that the perpetrator also "attempted a stabbing" at the scene before being neutralized.
The teens are currently in moderate and moderate-to-serious condition, according to MDA, Israel’s national emergency medical service.
