As the Israeli-Gaza conflict grinds on into October 2025, a flurry of diplomatic activity and continued violence have left the region on edge, with both hope and skepticism swirling around a new peace initiative spearheaded by U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On Friday, October 3, Israeli airstrikes killed six people in Gaza, including four in a single house in Gaza City and two more in Khan Younis, as reported by NBC News and confirmed by local authorities. These strikes unfolded just hours after Hamas, the group ruling Gaza, signaled partial acceptance of a peace plan crafted by Trump and Netanyahu earlier in the week. The timing was grimly ironic: even as negotiators worked behind the scenes, the violence on the ground showed no signs of letting up.
The peace plan at the heart of these developments is ambitious, to say the least. According to The Independent, it envisions the creation of a local government in Gaza led by Palestinian bureaucrats, but overseen by an international "Board of Peace" chaired by Trump himself. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is also slated to play a significant role. The plan holds out the possibility of the Palestinian Authority, which currently governs the West Bank, taking over political leadership in Gaza—if it undergoes reform.
Perhaps most crucially, the plan demands that Hamas disarm and relinquish power in Gaza, a requirement that has sparked fierce debate both inside and outside the Palestinian territories. While some Hamas political leaders based in Qatar are reportedly open to a modified version of the plan, the military leadership in Gaza, particularly Izz al-Din al-Haddad, has voiced outright opposition, viewing the proposal as a thinly veiled attempt to dismantle the organization regardless of its response, as BBC reported.
Despite this, Friday saw a breakthrough of sorts: Hamas agreed to parts of the deal, including the release of all Israeli hostages—both living and dead—while stating that other elements required further consultation, according to The Associated Press. The partial agreement was enough for Trump to take to his Truth Social platform, declaring, "Hamas is ready for a lasting PEACE." He went further, urging Israel to "immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly! Right now, it’s far too dangerous to do that."
Yet, the airstrikes persisted. Gaza’s civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 20 homes had been destroyed in what he described as a "very violent night." Gaza City’s Baptist hospital reported casualties from strikes in the area, and the death toll in Gaza continues to climb, with The Independent citing a figure of 66,148 Palestinians killed since the conflict began.
On the ground, ordinary people are caught between hope and despair. Rewaa Mohsen, a mother of two in central Gaza, shared her thoughts with the BBC via WhatsApp: "I hope they finalise everything and agree. It’s not a good plan for the Palestinians but at least they will not evacuate us to another country and the killing will stop – this is the most important thing to me." Rewaa was preparing for her daughter’s second birthday, a bittersweet milestone: "She was just two days old [when the war started] – we will celebrate all her coming years in peace I hope."
Negotiations are ongoing, with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner scheduled to travel to Egypt on Saturday, October 4, to finalize details of the hostage release and discuss ceasefire terms. Egypt, alongside Qatar and Turkey, is actively working to persuade Hamas to accept the proposal. Egypt’s foreign minister Badr Abdelatty, speaking in Paris, stressed the need for Hamas to disarm and warned against giving Israel any pretext to continue its assault. He didn’t mince words, describing the current situation as "ethnic cleansing and genocide in motion. So enough is enough."
The international response has been mixed. While the United States and Israel are pushing hard for the plan’s adoption, some Muslim-majority countries have voiced reservations. Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, told his national assembly that Trump’s 20-point plan "is not ours. These are not the same as ours. I say that some changes have been made in it, in the draft we had." This divergence highlights the complex web of interests at play and the difficulty of forging a consensus.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire. Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) reported that Omar Hayek, an occupational therapist and the 14th MSF staff member killed since the war began, died in an Israeli airstrike while waiting for a bus in Deir al-Balah. The group stated that Hayek and his colleagues were clearly identified as medical workers. "The attack took place on a street where our teams were waiting to take a bus to the MSF field hospital in Deir Al-Balah. All staff were wearing MSF vests, clearly identifying them as medical humanitarian workers," MSF said in a statement.
Adding to the misery, Unicef’s spokesperson James Elder described the situation for mothers and newborns in Gaza as "never been worse." At Nasser hospital in the south, corridors are lined with women who have just given birth, and resources are running out. Elder denounced the so-called safe zones in the south as "places of death," pointing out that "bombs are dropped from the sky with chilling predictability; schools, which had been designated as temporary shelters are regularly reduced to rubble, (and) tents… are regularly engulfed in fire from air attacks."
International legal and political consequences are also in play. The Netherlands’ highest court has ordered its government to review the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel, suspending shipments until a determination is made about potential violations of international law. This comes after a lower court had previously banned the exports, citing serious breaches of humanitarian law.
As the deadline looms—Trump has given Hamas until Sunday evening to accept the plan or face what he described as "all hell, like no one has ever seen before"—the stakes could not be higher. Every country involved appears to be holding its breath, waiting to see if this latest diplomatic push will bring a measure of peace or unleash yet another round of devastation.
For families like Rewaa Mohsen’s, the hope is simple: that the killing will stop and that children can celebrate birthdays in peace, not under the shadow of war.
