GAZA CITY — At least 60 Palestinians, including a young girl, were killed and dozens injured on Saturday in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip, defying US President Donald Trump’s call for an immediate end to the bombardment, according to medical sources and local reports.

Trump on Friday urged Israel to “stop bombing Gaza immediately” after Hamas said it was ready to release Israeli captives under his proposed ceasefire and prisoner-exchange plan, saying he believed the group was “ready for lasting peace.”

Northern Gaza

In Gaza City’s al-Tuffah neighborhood, six Palestinians were killed and others trapped under the rubble when Israeli warplanes struck a family home, medical sources told Anadolu Agency.

Seventeen more, including seven children, were killed in a separate strike on a nearby residential area.

One person died in a strike on al-Yarmouk Street, while another was killed and several wounded in an airstrike on a civilian gathering near the al-Sharq Laboratory in al-Labbabidi area.

At least 14 additional deaths were reported across the city.

Israeli forces also carried out extensive demolitions using remote-controlled, booby-trapped robots in the Sabra and Tel al-Hawa neighborhoods to the south, and in Rimal, Nasr, and Beach Camp to the west.

Witnesses said tanks pulled back slightly from al-Jalaa Street and the Nasr neighborhood but continued to fire sporadically, with low-flying drones targeting movement.

Israel’s government had approved a plan in August, proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to gradually reoccupy the Gaza Strip starting with Gaza City. Three days later, the army launched a large-scale assault that destroyed homes, towers, tents, and hospitals.

Central and southern Gaza

In the Nuseirat refugee camp, a young girl was killed and others injured when a strike hit an apartment on al-Ishrin Street. Another death was reported elsewhere in central Gaza.

In the south, at least eight Palestinians were killed in airstrikes and artillery shelling, while medical sources at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said 11 additional bodies were transferred to the facility after fresh attacks.

Israeli artillery also struck several areas of Khan Younis, with tanks firing indiscriminately toward the city’s northern and central districts.

Orders to halt operation

Israeli military radio and the KAN public broadcaster reported new political directives to “halt the Gaza City occupation operation” and scale back military activity to “defensive measures only.”

Netanyahu’s office said Israel was preparing, in light of Hamas’s response, to begin implementing the first phase of Trump’s ceasefire plan for the release of all captives.

According to the Israeli newspaper Maariv, Netanyahu held an urgent overnight meeting with senior military and negotiation officials, excluding far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oppose any pause in the fighting.

Despite the reported order to halt operations, Israeli forces continued to urge residents to evacuate Gaza City, warning that areas north of Wadi Gaza remain “dangerous combat zones.”

The army said it continues to encircle Gaza City and cautioned civilians against approaching operational zones throughout the strip, including in the south.

Since October 2023, Israeli bombardment has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians — mostly women and children — according to Gaza health officials.

The UN and rights groups warn that the enclave is being rendered uninhabitable, with famine, disease, and mass displacement spreading rapidly. — Agencies