JERUSALEM: Hamas said on Saturday that it was ready to start talks to resolve all outstanding issues under US President Donald Trump's Gaza ceasefire deal.
"We are ready to begin negotiations immediately to finalize all issues," a senior Hamas official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
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's end.
Trump welcomes the move
US 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.
"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!" Trump posted on Truth Social.
EU chief welcomes Hamas response to peace plan
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday welcomed Hamas's positive reaction to a peace deal proposed by US President Donald Trump and said halting the war in Gaza was "within reach."
"Hamas' stated readiness to release hostages and engage on the basis of the recent proposal is encouraging," von der Leyen wrote on X. "This moment must be seized. An immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages are within reach."
Heavy bombardment
But despite Trump's appeal, Gaza'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.
"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 defense spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP.
Bassal, whose agency is a rescue force which operates under Hamas authority, added that 20 homes were destroyed in the overnight bombardments.
Gaza City's Baptist Hospital said it received casualties from a strike on a home in the city's Tuffah neighborhood, including four dead and several wounded.
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.
The US leader had given the Palestinian group until 2200 GMT on Sunday to accept his 20-point plan or else face "all hell."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office had said in response to Trump's call that Israel was "preparing for the immediate implementation of the first stage of the Trump plan for the release of all the hostages."
In its statement, Hamas also agreed to hand over power in Gaza to technocrats but said it would "participate and contribute responsibly" in Palestinian discussions regarding the territory's future.
‘Egypt to host Palestinian conference on Gaza’
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.
Egypt will host an "intra-Palestinian dialogue on Palestinian unity and the future of Gaza, including the administration of the Gaza Strip," the official told AFP.
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