CAIRO\/GAZA
\nPalestinian Islamic Jihad, a hardline ally of Hamas that also holds hostages, on Saturday endorsed the group\u2019s response to a U.S. plan to end the war in Gaza \u2013 a move that could help pave the way for the release of Israelis still held by both parties.
\nHamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, on Friday accepted certain key parts of U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s plan, including ending the war, Israel\u2019s withdrawal and the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian captives.
\nHamas\u2019s response triggered a chorus of optimistic statements by world leaders urging an immediate cessation of the deadliest conflict involving Israel since its creation in 1948, and demanding freedom for the Israelis still held in the enclave.
\nA further possible boost to hopes for peace came with a supportive statement from Iran-backed Islamic Jihad, which is smaller than Hamas but seen as more hardline.
\nPALESTINIANS LOOK FOR \u2018RAY OF HOPE\u2019 AFTER HAMAS RESPONSE
\n\u201cHamas\u2019 (reaction) to Trump\u2019s plan represents the position of the Palestinian resistance factions, and the Islamic Jihad participated responsibly in the consultations that led to this decision,\u201d the group said.
\nAsked when talks on implementing the U.S. plan would begin, a Hamas official told Reuters \u201cthings have yet to be arranged\u201d.
\nHamas\u2019 stance, and its backing by Islamic Jihad, may raise the spirit of Gazans, who had watched one ceasefire effort after another fail as Israeli strikes hit the strip over the past two years, creating a humanitarian crisis and displacing millions.
\n\u201cMay the suffering lift off the people of Gaza, the people of Gaza are among the oppressed of the earth, and any ray of hope for the oppressed people is a victory,\u201d said Sharif al-Fakhouri, resident of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.
\nAmid the optimism several issues remain unresolved, such as whether Hamas will agree to disarm, one of Israel\u2019s top demands.
\nSome Palestinians expressed fear that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who heads Israel\u2019s most far-right government ever, will ultimately withdraw from any plan to end the war.
\n\u201cWhat is important is that Netanyahu does not sabotage this, because now that Hamas agreed, Netanyahu will disagree, as he usually does,\u201d said Jerusalem resident Jamal Shihada.
\nIsraeli airstrikes persisted early on Saturday but they were less intense, after U.S. President Donald Trump had called for a halt to the bombing saying Hamas was ready for peace.
\nIn its daily update, the Gaza health ministry said Israeli fire killed at least 66 Palestinians across the enclave in the past 24 hours.
\nWORLDWIDE SUPPORT FOR END TO \u2018TERRIBLE WAR\u2019
\nNetanyahu\u2019s office said Israel was preparing for \u201cimmediate implementation\u201d of the first stage of Trump\u2019s Gaza plan for the release of Israeli hostages following Hamas\u2019 response.
\nShortly after, Israeli media reported that the country\u2019s political echelon had instructed the military to reduce offensive activity in Gaza.
\nTrump\u2019s plan and Hamas\u2019 reaction won support around the world, from Australia to India to Canada and European capitals.
\n\u201cAn end to this terrible war is within reach,\u201d said Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof.
\nHamas responded to Trump\u2019s 20-point plan after the U.S. president gave the group until Sunday to accept or face grave consequences.
\nTrump, who has cast himself as the only person capable of achieving peace in Gaza, has invested significant political capital in efforts to end the war that has left U.S. ally Israel increasingly isolated on the world stage.
\nTrump said on Friday he believed Hamas had shown it was \u201cready for a lasting PEACE\u201d and he put the onus on Netanyahu\u2019s government. \u201cIsrael must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!\u201d Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
\nDomestically, the prime minister is caught between growing pressure to end the war \u2014 from hostage families and a war-weary public \u2014 and demands from hardline members of his coalition who insist there must be no let-up in Israel\u2019s campaign in Gaza.
\nIsrael began attacking Gaza after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel says 48 hostages remain, 20 of whom are alive.
\nIsrael\u2019s campaign has killed more than 67,000 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s time to end this horrific war and bring every single hostage back home. We are for rebuilding and the rehabilitation,\u201d said Efrat Machikawa, an active member of Israel\u2019s hostage families forum and the niece of Gadi Moses, a hostage who was released in January.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re fed up with the war. We don\u2019t want any revenge. We want to concentrate on life.\u201d
\nAdditional reporting by Mohammed Torokman, Mussa Qawasma and Rami Amichay; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Susan Fenton, William Maclean<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CAIRO\/GAZA Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a hardline ally of Hamas that also holds hostages, on Saturday endorsed the group\u2019s response to a U.S. plan to end the war in Gaza \u2013 a move that could help pave the way for the release of Israelis still held by both parties. Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":506816,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-506798","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n