Israel ramps up Gaza City offensive as Hamas weighs Trump plan

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

CAIRO (Reuters) -Hamas's review of U.S. President Donald Trump's Gaza plan stretched into a third day on Wednesday, a source close to the militant group said, as other Palestinian factions rejected the proposal and as Israel again bombed Gaza City.

Trump on Tuesday gave Hamas "three or four days" to respond to the plan he outlined this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has backed the proposal to end Israel's almost two-year-old war with the Palestinian militant group.

"Accepting the plan is a disaster, rejecting it is another, there are only bitter choices here, but the plan is a Netanyahu plan articulated by Trump," a Palestinian official, familiar with Hamas' deliberations with other factions, told Reuters.

"Hamas is keen to end the war and end the genocide and it will respond in the way that serves the higher interests of the Palestinian people," he said, without elaborating.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military issued new orders for people to leave for the south and said it would no longer allow those to return to the north, as Gaza City came under heavy bombing.

GAZA CITY STRIKE KILLS 17, HEALTH AUTHORITIES SAY

Israeli planes and tanks pounded residential neighbourhoods throughout the night, residents in Gaza City said. Local health authorities said that at least 17 people across Gaza had been killed by the military on Wednesday, most of them in Gaza City.

A strike on the old city in northwestern Gaza City killed seven people, while six people sheltering in a school in another part of the city were killed in a separate strike, medics said.

In a new development, the Israeli military said that starting on Wednesday it would no longer allow people to use a coastal road to move from the south to communities in the north.

It would remain open for those fleeing south, it said.

In recent weeks, few people have moved from the south to the north as the military has intensified its siege on Gaza City. However, today's decision will put pressure on those who are yet to leave Gaza City and also prevent hundreds of thousands of residents who have fled south from returning to their homes, likely deepening fears in Gaza of permanent displacement.

It would also stop the transfer by local merchants of goods from south to the north, which could worsen food shortages in Gaza City.

The military had taken similar measures in the early months of the war, completely separating north and south, before later easing those measures in January during a temporary ceasefire.

HAMAS UNDER PRESSURE ON PLAN, AS OTHER GROUPS REJECT IT

Hamas is yet to publicly comment on Trump's plan, which demands that the militant group release the remaining hostages, surrender its weapons and have no future role in running Gaza.

The plan sees Israel making few concessions in the near-term and does not lay out a clear path to a Palestinian state, one of the key demands of not only Hamas but the Arab and Muslim world.

The plan states that Israel would eventually withdraw from Gaza but does not define a time frame. Hamas has long demanded that Israel must fully withdraw from Gaza for the war to end.

Three smaller Palestinian militant factions in Gaza have rejected the plan, including two that are allies of Hamas, arguing that it would destroy the 'Palestinian cause' and would grant Israel's control of Gaza international legitimacy.

Many world leaders have publicly supported Trump's plan.

A source who is close to Hamas told Reuters on Tuesday the plan was too heavily weighted towards Israel's interest and did not take significant account of the militant group's demands.

Many elements of the 20-point plan have been included in numerous ceasefire proposals previously backed by the U.S., including some that have been accepted and then subsequently rejected at various stages by both Israel and Hamas.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Editing by William Maclean)