WASHINGTON DC/JERUSALEM: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that Hamas must lay down its arms and turn in its weapons.&nbsp; &quot;If they don&#39;t disarm, we will disarm them,&quot; Trump told reporters at the White House a day after visiting the Middle East to celebrate the Gaza ceasefire. &quot;And it will happen quickly and perhaps violently.&quot; He said those who agree to &quot;decommission their weapons&quot; will be given amnesty. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained the war cannot end until Hamas surrenders its weapons and cedes control of Gaza, a demand the fighters have rejected.&nbsp; &quot;First, Hamas has to give up its arms, and second, you want to make sure that there are no weapons factories inside Gaza. There&#39;s no smuggling of weapons into Gaza. That&#39;s demilitarization,&quot; he said in an interview with CBS News.&nbsp;Meanwhile,&nbsp;Hamas is reported to be fighting what it calls Israel-supported &quot;outlaws.&quot;&nbsp;In the north of the territory, as Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza City, black-masked armed men have resumed street patrols.&nbsp; A Hamas security unit has been conducting operations against armed clans and gangs.&nbsp;&quot;Intense clashes broke out -- and are still ongoing at the moment -- as part of efforts to eliminate collaborators,&quot; said witness Yahya, who asked not to be named in full for fear of retribution. Reassuring presenceHamas has, since it crushed rival Fatah in armed clashes in 2007, been the dominant Palestinian faction in Gaza. For many Palestinians rebuilding their homes and lives amid Gaza&#39;s rubble, the sight of the militants was reassuring.&nbsp;&quot;After the war ended and the police spread out in the streets, we started to feel safe,&quot; said 34-year-old Abu Fadi Al-Banna in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.&nbsp;Hamdiya Shammiya, 40, who was driven from her home in northern Gaza by the fighting to seek shelter in the southern city of Khan Yunis, agreed.&nbsp;&quot;Thank God the war is finally over. We&#39;ve started to breathe a little,&quot; she said.&nbsp;While Palestinians sought stability, Israeli families stepped up pressure for the return of the remains of deceased hostages still held in Gaza. Israel to reopen Gaza&#39;s Rafah crossingMeanwhile, Israel said it will allow Gaza&#39;s key Rafah crossing to reopen on Wednesday for humanitarian aid to reach the Palestinian territory, AFP reported.&nbsp;&quot;Six hundred trucks of humanitarian aid will be dispatched (Wednesday) to the Gaza Strip by the UN, approved international organizations, the private sector and donor countries,&quot; Israeli public broadcaster KAN said on its website without citing sources.&nbsp;The Israeli public broadcaster said the reopening of the southern Rafah crossing, decided by the &quot;political echelon&quot;, follows Hamas handing over the remains of four more hostages late Tuesday, under the ceasefire deal for the Palestinian territory. Prominent Gaza hospital chief remains in Israeli prisonIn another development, more than 100 medical personnel seized during raids on hospitals remain in Israeli prisons, including Dr Hossam Abu Safiya, a hospital director who became the face of the struggle to keep treating patients under Israeli siege and bombardment, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.&nbsp; Despite widespread calls for his release, Abu Safiya was not among the Palestinian detainees and prisoners freed Monday in exchange for 20 hostages held by Hamas.&nbsp; Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, has been imprisoned without charge by Israel for nearly 10 months.&nbsp; It was not known if Abu Safiya, 52, might still be released. Israeli officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. His family said on social media there were &ldquo;no confirmed details about the date of his release,&rdquo; adding that freed detainees described him as &ldquo;in good health and strong spirits.&rdquo; The Israeli military said Abu Safiya was being investigated on suspicion of cooperating with or working for Hamas.&nbsp; Health Workers Watch, which documents detentions from Gaza, said at least 115 medical workers remain in custody, as well as the remains of four who died while in Israeli prisons, where rights groups and witnesses have reported frequent abuse.

Middle East

Says those Hamas members who agree to 'decommission their weapons' will be given amnesty. World powers endorse peace agreement, saying Gaza will be demilitarized, Hamas will have no leadership role.

Trump on Hamas: 'If they don't disarm, we will disarm them'

Web Desk/AFP

JERUSALEM: Hamas said on Saturday that it was ready to start talks to resolve all outstanding issues under US President Donald Trump&#39;s Gaza ceasefire deal.&nbsp;&quot;We are ready to begin negotiations immediately to finalize all issues,&quot; a senior Hamas official told AFP on condition of anonymity.&nbsp;The group said on Friday that it was ready to release all hostages held in the Gaza Strip but did not address calls for its disarmament and exile from the Palestinian territory after the war&#39;s end.&nbsp;Trump welcomes the moveUS President Donald Trump said on Friday he believed Hamas was ready for peace and told Israel to stop bombing Gaza, after the Palestinian group declared it was ready to free hostages under his ceasefire plan.&nbsp; <div class="fr-embed responsive-video"><div class="video-wrapper aspect-video"><iframe src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115312298602997974/embed" class="truthsocial-embed" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" style="width: 100%; height: 100%; min-height: 0px;"></iframe> &quot;Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE. Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!&quot; Trump posted on Truth Social.</div></div>&nbsp;EU chief welcomes Hamas response to peace planEU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday welcomed Hamas&#39;s positive reaction to a peace deal proposed by US President Donald Trump and said halting the war in Gaza was &quot;within reach.&quot; <div class="fr-embed responsive-video"><div class="video-wrapper aspect-video"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1974364526427476015&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=6dba3c39db499a4bca4738b69d41b8d8253dc320&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 465px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;"></iframe></div> &quot;Hamas&#39; stated readiness to release hostages and engage on the basis of the recent proposal is encouraging,&quot; von der Leyen wrote on X. &quot;This moment must be seized. An immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages are within reach.&quot;</div></div>&nbsp;Heavy bombardmentBut despite Trump&#39;s appeal, Gaza&#39;s civil defense agency reported that Israel carried out dozens of attacks on Gaza City overnight, with a number of nearby hospitals saying they received casualties from strikes.&nbsp;&quot;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&#39;s call to halt the bombing,&quot; civil defense spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP.&nbsp;Bassal, whose agency is a rescue force which operates under Hamas authority, added that 20 homes were destroyed in the overnight bombardments.&nbsp;Gaza City&#39;s Baptist Hospital said it received casualties from a strike on a home in the city&#39;s Tuffah neighborhood, including four dead and several wounded.&nbsp;Further south, Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis said two children were killed and eight people wounded in a drone strike on a tent in a camp for displaced Gazans.&nbsp;The US leader had given the Palestinian group until 2200 GMT on Sunday to accept his 20-point plan or else face &quot;all hell.&quot;&nbsp;Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu&#39;s office had said in response to Trump&#39;s call that Israel was &quot;preparing for the immediate implementation of the first stage of the Trump plan for the release of all the hostages.&quot;&nbsp;In its statement, Hamas also agreed to hand over power in Gaza to technocrats but said it would &quot;participate and contribute responsibly&quot; in Palestinian discussions regarding the territory&#39;s future. &lsquo;Egypt to host Palestinian conference on Gaza&rsquo;A senior Hamas official said on Saturday that Egypt would organize a conference for Palestinian factions to decide on the post-war future of the Gaza Strip, after the group agreed to release hostages under a US ceasefire plan.&nbsp;Egypt will host an &quot;intra-Palestinian dialogue on Palestinian unity and the future of Gaza, including the administration of the Gaza Strip,&quot; the official told AFP.

Group has not addressed calls for disarmament, exile from Palestinian territory; Egypt to host Palestinian conference on Gaza; EU chief welcomes Hamas response to peace plan.






Hamas says ready to begin talks to finalize Gaza ceasefire deal

JERUSALEM: Israel&#39;s far-right finance minister on Monday insisted the military maintain &quot;full operational freedom&quot; in Gaza, ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu&#39;s White House meeting with US President Donald Trump.&nbsp;Trump is expected to press Netanyahu to agree to his 21-point peace plan, proposed after nearly two years of conflict.&nbsp;In a lengthy post on X, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich outlined a series of &quot;red lines&quot;, saying Israel&#39;s security relied on &quot;actions, our hold on the land, and uncompromising enforcement that depends solely on the (Israeli military) and our defense establishment&quot;.&nbsp;He demanded the military &quot;remain permanently at the perimeter, including the Philadelphi Corridor, and will maintain full operational freedom throughout the entire Gaza Strip&quot;.&nbsp;The corridor, along the Gaza-Egypt border, is seen by Israel as crucial to preventing weapons smuggling into the Palestinian territory.&nbsp;The Trump plan, according to a diplomatic source, involves an Israeli withdrawal from the territory.&nbsp;Smotrich also rejected any role for the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA) in the future of Gaza, which is among the most controversial aspects of Trump&#39;s plan.&nbsp;The PA governed Gaza until Hamas seized power in 2007. Netanyahu has also firmly rejected the idea of its involvement in Gaza&#39;s future.&nbsp;Smotrich demanded that there also be no Qatari involvement in the future of the Palestinian territory.&nbsp;&quot;The time has come to put an end to Qatar&#39;s hypocrisy and duplicity, which encourages and funds terrorism,&quot; he wrote.&nbsp;Israel recently struck US ally and key Gaza ceasefire mediator Qatar in a bid to target Hamas leaders, a move Trump opposed.&nbsp;Smotrich also demanded there be &quot;no mention, even implicitly, of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel&#39;s existence,&quot; echoing comments made by Netanyahu.&nbsp;Smotrich said he hoped to &quot;seize the historic opportunity of the Trump administration... to politically and practically establish the fact that Judea and Samaria are an inseparable part of the sovereign State of Israel,&quot; using the Israeli Biblical term for the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.&nbsp;Trump last week cautioned Netanyahu against annexing the West Bank, as sought by Israeli cabinet members.&nbsp;Netanyahu depends on Smotrich&#39;s Religious Zionism party to maintain his parliamentary majority.

Reports say Trump is expected to press Netanyahu to agree to his 21-point peace plan, proposed after nearly two years of conflict.

Ahead of Trump meeting, Israeli minister demands army keep 'operational freedom' in Gaza

Reuters

On September 16, 2025, the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry (COI) on the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, issued its third report on the situation in Gaza since October 7, 2023.&nbsp;For the first time, the COI has recognized that genocide has been committed, and continues to be committed, against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It demands that Israel immediately implement a &ldquo;complete and permanent&rdquo; ceasefire in Gaza, and that it ensures unhindered access to humanitarian aid, including food, clean water, medical equipment and medicine in all of Gaza.&nbsp;What&rsquo;s in the report?The report is a legal analysis of Israel&rsquo;s conduct in Gaza. It thoroughly examines all the elements of the definition of the crime of genocide established by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide of 1948.&nbsp;The COI based its conclusions on its own investigations and relied on the jurisprudence of international criminal tribunals to examine the evidence gathered. The facts included in the report &ndash; a non-exhaustive list &ndash; are those that experts have considered relevant to the analysis of genocide.&nbsp;The report analyses events in the Gaza Strip between October 2023 and July 2025. This means it does not account for events that occurred before the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7, or human rights violations in the West Bank during this period.&nbsp;The COI drew its finding of genocide by applying the criteria of &ldquo;reasonable grounds to conclude&rdquo;. This is the standard of proof used by most international commissions of inquiry on human rights. It differs from the criteria of &ldquo;beyond a reasonable doubt&rdquo; used in criminal tribunals &ndash; this is consistent with the complementary role played by international human rights commissions in judicial investigation processes.&nbsp;All this is to say that, according to international standards of proof, the report provides enough verified evidence to determine that Israel&rsquo;s conduct constitutes a crime of genocide.&nbsp;What is the evidence?By analyzing the elements of the definition of genocide, the COI concludes that Israeli forces have committed 4 of the 5 acts that constitute genocide committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as per the 1948 UN Convention. Namely, these are: &nbsp;- Killing members of the group &nbsp;- Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group - Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part&nbsp;- Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.&nbsp;According to the UN report, all these acts are being done with the intention to destroy, in whole or in part, the group of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.&nbsp;The report details specific, recorded acts that fit these definitions. These include attacks on civilians on evacuation routes, around 500 attacks on healthcare facilities, failure to use precision-guided &ldquo;smart&rdquo; weapons in densely populated residential areas, and deliberate attacks targeting medical personnel and aid workers.&nbsp;It describes the mistreatment and torture of more than 4,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody, as well as rape and other sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinian detainees. The report also highlights the systematic and intentional destruction of maternity facilities, an increase of 300% in miscarriages since October 7, 2023, as well as attacks on Gaza&rsquo;s largest fertility clinic, which destroyed around 4,000 embryos.&nbsp;The report also finds evidence of Israel intentionally destroying areas of agricultural land, destroying 110 cultural and religious sites, and damaging 70&nbsp;% of schools.&nbsp;More than 90% of Gaza&rsquo;s residents (about 1.9 million people) have been displaced, while Israel&rsquo;s &ldquo;total siege&rdquo; of Gaza has cut off supplies of water, food, electricity, fuel and other essential supplies, including humanitarian assistance. The report finds that Israel is using starvation as a method of warfare, and that it has weaponized access to basic supplies.&nbsp;Genocidal intentTo be considered genocide, all of these acts need to be committed with the special intention to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Based on the direct and circumstantial evidence available, the COI has drawn the following conclusion:&nbsp;&ldquo;The Israeli authorities intended to kill as many Palestinians as possible through its military operations in Gaza since 7 October 2023 and knew that the means and methods of warfare employed would cause mass deaths of Palestinians, including children.&rdquo;&nbsp;The direct evidence draws from statements made by Israeli authorities, which have repeatedly dehumanized Palestinians and &ldquo;explicitly called for vengeance, destruction and annihilation&rdquo;.Additionally, the report concludes that &ldquo;the only reasonable inference that can be drawn from the pattern of conduct of Israeli security forces in Gaza is evidence of genocidal intent.&rdquo;&nbsp;Will it make a difference?The report concludes that Israel has failed to prevent genocide, is still committing genocide, and has failed to punish genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It calls on all States to prevent genocide by ceasing the transfer of weapons to Israel, and to ensure that individuals and corporations do not contribute to it.&nbsp;It also compels States to promote domestic investigations and to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in gathering evidence of the crime and incitement of genocide.&nbsp;Lastly, the COI recommends that the Prosecutor of the ICC expand its investigations of the situation in Palestine, and that it include genocide in addition to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Before the COI report, other UN mechanisms had already determined that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Nevertheless, this report is groundbreaking in its level of detail. The evidence it offers is so overwhelming that it leaves little room for doubt, or for the argument that Israel is acting in self-defense.&nbsp;The report&rsquo;s long-term impact remains to be seen, though its findings may have spurred the recent push to recognize a Palestinian State in various European countries.

For the first time, the COI recognizes that genocide has been committed, and continues to be committed, against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Articles tagged with "Genocide in Gaza"

Trump on Hamas: 'If they don't disarm, we will disarm them'

Hamas says ready to begin talks to finalize Gaza ceasefire deal

Ahead of Trump meeting, Israeli minister demands army keep 'operational freedom' in Gaza

Overwhelming evidence of genocide against Palestinians: Legal expert