Israeli planes and tanks pounded areas across the Gaza Strip overnight and on Sunday, destroying several residential buildings, witnesses said, as traumatised Palestinians hoped a US plan to end the war would soon ease their suffering.

US President Donald Trump, who had called for an end to the bombing, said on Saturday on his Truth Social platform that Israel had agreed to an “initial withdrawal line” inside Gaza and that “when Hamas confirms, the Ceasefire will be IMMEDIATELY effective.”

Israel escalated its offensive as Egypt prepares to host delegates from Hamas, Israel and the United States, and Qatar, to kick off talks over the implementation of the most advanced effort yet to halt the conflict.

Cairo talks to tackle unresolved issues

Hamas had drawn a welcoming response from Trump on Friday by saying it accepted certain key parts of his 20-point peace proposal, including ending the war, Israel’s withdrawal, and the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian captives.

But the group left some issues up for further negotiation, as well as questions unanswered, such as whether it would be willing to disarm, a key demand from Israel to end the war.

Israel escalated its offensive as Egypt prepares to host delegates from Hamas, Israel and the United States, and Qatar, to kick off talks over the implementation of the most advanced effort yet to halt the conflict.

Radical Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said on X that halting attacks on Gaza was a “grave mistake”.

Other extremist ministers have significant influence in Netanyahu’s government and have threatened to bring it down if the Gaza war ends.

Arab states welcome Hamas response

But opposition leader Yair Lapid of the centrist Yesh Atid party has said political cover will be provided so the Trump initiative can succeed and “we won’t let them torpedo the deal”.

Trump has won backing from Arab and other Muslim states.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia, and Pakistan issued a joint statement welcoming the steps taken by Hamas regarding Trump’s Gaza plan.

“The Foreign Ministers reiterated their joint commitment to support efforts towards the implementation of the proposal, to work for the immediate end of the war on Gaza, and achieve a comprehensive agreement,” they said in the joint statement.

In Gaza City, Israeli forces continued attacks and warned residents who had left against returning, saying it was a “dangerous combat zone”.

On Sunday, witnesses said Israeli planes escalated attacks against targets across the city, Gaza’s biggest urban centre.

This followed a tense night in which drones dropped grenades on the rooftops of residential buildings and troops blew up explosive-laden vehicles, demolishing dozens of houses in two Gaza City neighbourhoods, Sabra and Sheikh Radwan.

Start of Trump’s truce plan

“Where is Trump in all of this?” said Rami Mohammad-Ali, 37, from Gaza City, now displaced on the city’s western side.

“The explosions don’t stop, the drones drop bombs everywhere, as if nothing has happened. Where is the truce Trump told us about?” he asked.

Local health authorities said at least one Palestinian was killed, and several others were wounded in those attacks.

Three other people were killed in separate Israeli strikes across the enclave, medics said.

Amjad Al Shawa, head of the Palestinian NGOs Network, which liaises with the United Nations and international humanitarian organisations, said Gaza City has begun experiencing acute shortages of food and fuel, days after Israel blocked the route from the south to the north.

Under Trump’s plan, all Israeli hostages, alive and deceased, were due to be released within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting the agreement.

Israel says 48 hostages remain, 20 of whom are alive.

There may be logistical challenges, too.

Sources close to Hamas told Reuters that handing over living hostages could prove relatively straightforward, but retrieving bodies of dead ones amid the huge devastation and rubble of Gaza may take longer than a few days to achieve.

Trump said on Friday he believed Hamas had shown it was “ready for a lasting PEACE” and he called on Netanyahu’s government to halt airstrikes in Gaza.

Israel’s military strikes against Palestinians have killed more than 67,000 people in Gaza, most of them civilians.