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DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 57 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, health officials said Thursday, as Hamas was still considering its response to US President Donald Trump’s proposal for ending the nearly two-year war.
The plan requires Hamas to return all 48 hostages — about 20 of them thought by Israel to be alive — give up power and disarm in return for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and an end to fighting. However, the proposal, which has been accepted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sets no path to Palestinian statehood.
Palestinians long for the war to end but many believe the plan favors Israel, and a Hamas official told The Associated Press that some elements were unacceptable, without elaborating. Qatar and Egypt, two key mediators, said it requires more negotiations on certain elements.
Israel intercepts activist aid flotilla
At least 29 people were killed by Israeli fire in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Officials there said 14 of them were killed in an Israeli military corridor where there have been frequent shootings around the distribution of humanitarian aid.
Officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir Al-Balah said they had received 16 dead from Israeli strikes.
Doctors Without Borders said one of its occupational therapists was killed while waiting for a bus in Deir Al-Balah, in a strike that seriously wounded four other people. The international charity described Omar Hayek, 42, as a “quiet man of profound kindness and professionalism.”
Hayek, who had recently fled south from Gaza City, is the 14th staffer from the organization to have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, it said.
In Gaza City, health officials at Shifa Hospital said they received five bodies and several wounded people, adding that its staff are having difficulties reaching the hospital as Israel wages a major offensive aimed at occupying the city.
Other hospitals reported an additional seven deaths from Israeli fire. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which says it only strikes militants and accuses Hamas of putting civilians in danger by operating in populated areas.
Israel has meanwhile intercepted most of the more than 40 vessels in a widely watched flotilla carrying a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid for Palestinians and aiming to break Israel’s 18-year blockade of Gaza, according to organizers.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on social media that activists on board – including Greta Thunberg and several European lawmakers – were safe and were being taken to Israel to begin “procedures” for their deportation.
In the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian militant was killed and another arrested on Thursday after they carried out a car-ramming and shooting attack on an Israeli army checkpoint, the military said, adding that no soldiers were wounded.
Awaiting word from Hamas
A senior Hamas official told The Associated Press on Wednesday that some points in the proposal agreed upon by Trump and Netanyahu are unacceptable and must be amended, without elaborating.
He said the official response will only come after consultations with other Palestinian factions. Speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media about the ongoing talks, the official said Hamas had conveyed its concerns to Qatar and Egypt.
The Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 that triggered the war killed some 1,200 people while 251 others were abducted. Most of the hostages have been freed under previous ceasefire deals.
The Trump plan would guarantee the flow of humanitarian aid and promises reconstruction in Gaza, placing its more than 2 million Palestinians under international governance.
Mounting toll in Gaza
Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 66,200 Palestinians and wounded nearly 170,000 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its toll, but has said women and children make up around half the dead.
The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government. UN agencies and many independent experts view its figures as the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.
Around 400,000 Palestinians have fled famine-stricken Gaza City since Israel launched a major offensive there last month. On Thursday morning, smoke could be seen in northern Gaza and people were fleeing the area headed south.
Israel’s defense minister on Wednesday ordered all remaining Palestinians to leave Gaza City, saying it was their “last opportunity” and that anyone who stayed would be considered a militant supporter.
While Hamas’ military capabilities have been vastly depleted, it still carries out sporadic attacks. On Wednesday, at least seven projectiles were launched into Israel from Gaza, but all were either intercepted or fell in open areas, with no reports of casualties, the Israeli military said.

RABAT, Morocco: Youth-led demonstrators in Morocco took to the streets on Thursday for a sixth straight night despite fears of more violence after police killed three people the night before.
The protesters in at least a dozen cities, including Casablanca, demanded better schools and hospitals, with some calling for Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch to resign.
The call for resignation came after police killed three people on Wednesday as largely peaceful protests turned into riots, with banks looted and cars set ablaze.
Though Morocco’s king is the country’s highest authority, protests in Morocco routinely focus on the government charged with carrying out his agenda. On Thursday, hundreds chanted for King Mohammed VI to intervene against the government. Crowds shouted “The people want to topple Akhannouch” and “Government out!” as demonstrations unfolded peacefully.
In his first public remarks, Akhannouch said earlier on Thursday that he was mourning Wednesday’s deaths. He praised law enforcement for its efforts to maintain order and indicated that the government was prepared to respond favorably to the protesters, without detailing reforms under discussion.
“The approach based on dialogue is the only way to deal with the various problems faced by our country,” Akhannouch said.
Escalating tensions
The pledge for new efforts to address the protests came a day after authorities said armed rioters had stormed public buildings and the youth-led anti-government demonstrations showed few signs of abating.
Security forces opened fire at demonstrators on Wednesday, killing three people in Leqliaa, a small town outside the coastal city of Agadir. Morocco’s Interior Ministry said the three were shot and killed during an attempt to seize police weapons, though no witnesses could corroborate the report.
The ministry said 354 people — mostly law enforcement — had sustained injuries. It said hundreds of cars were damaged, as well as banks, shops and public buildings in 23 of the country’s provinces. Throughout the country, roughly 70 percent of the demonstrators were minors, according to ministry estimates.
The demonstrations, organized by a leaderless movement known as Gen Z 212 dominated by Internet-savvy youth, have taken the country by surprise and emerged as some of Morocco’s biggest in years. By midweek, they appeared to be spreading to new locations despite a lack of permits from authorities.
Frustrations simmer
Those taking part in the so-called Gen Z protests decry what they see as widespread corruption at everyday people’s expense. Through chants and posters, they have contrasted the flow of billions in investment toward preparation for the 2030 World Cup, while many schools and hospitals lack funds and remain in a dire state.
“Health care first, we don’t want the World Cup,” has emerged as among the week’s most popular refrains on the street.
Pointing to new stadiums under construction or renovation across the country, protesters have chanted, “Stadiums are here, but where are the hospitals?”

The recent deaths of eight women in public hospital in Agadir have become a rallying cry against the decline of Morocco’s health system.
As Morocco prepares to host soccer’s Africa Cup of Nations later this year and politicians gear up for a parliamentary election in 2026, the link has drawn attention to how deep disparities endure in the North African kingdom. Despite rapid development, according to some metrics, many Moroccans feel disillusioned by its unevenness, with regional inequities, the state of public services and lack of opportunity fueling discontent.
“The right to health, education and a dignified life is not an empty slogan but a serious demand,” Gen Z 212 said in a statement.
Officials have denied prioritizing World Cup spending over public infrastructure, saying health sector problems were inherited from previous governments.
Clashes and arrests
Chants were fewer as violence broke out in several cities on Wednesday evening, following days of mass arrests in more than a dozen cities, particularly in places where jobs are scarce and social services lacking.
The Moroccan Association for Human Rights has said that more than 1,000 people have been apprehended, including many whose arrests were shown on video by local media and some who were detained by plainclothes officers during live television interviews.
The chaos came despite warnings from authorities, political parties in government and the opposition and the organizers themselves. In a statement published on Discord, the Gen Z 212 protest movement earlier on Wednesday implored protesters to remain peaceful and blasted “repressive security approaches.”
Still, the protests have escalated and become more destructive, particularly in cities far from where development efforts have been concentrated in Morocco. Local outlets and footage filmed by witnesses show protesters hurling rocks and setting vehicles ablaze in cities and towns in the country’s east and south.
The “Gen Z” protests mirror similar unrest sweeping countries like Nepal, Kenya and Madagascar.