After deadly day, Gazans say Trump's touting of plan jars with grim reality

CAIRO/GAZA, Aug 3 - Palestinians in Gaza said on Monday Donald Trump's touting of a deal aimed at disarming Hamas and ending the war was out of touch with their worsening reality, after Israel killed 18 people in one of the deadliest days since a ceasefire last year.

The U.S. president on Thursday declared "a major milestone" towards implementing the Gaza peace plan agreed last October, saying that Hamas would disarm and Israel would withdraw in phases.

But complications have swiftly emerged: Israel's defence minister said on Sunday that Israeli troops in Gaza would not move before Hamas disarms and its tunnels are destroyed, while Hamas insists Israel halt attacks before it begins implementing the part of the agreement dealing with its arms.

On the ground in Gaza, still in ruins as a result of the Israeli offensive launched in retaliation for Hamas' October 7, 2023 attacks, Palestinians say intensifying Israeli strikes in recent days have shattered any hope of progress.

Israeli troops have occupied and depopulated two thirds of the enclave, leaving nearly all its more than 2 million residents confined to a tiny strip of land along the coast, most in makeshift tents or damaged buildings amid the ruins.

"It was as if the war has resumed, there was an attack every one hour or less, and the planes struck places across the Gaza Strip, north, central and south, everywhere," Aya Mohammad Zaki, 32, told Reuters by phone.

The Palestinians killed on Sunday included a couple and their child in an Israeli strike on a Gaza City apartment. The Israeli military said it targeted military operatives in that and other strikes.

'WAITING FOR DISPLACEMENT'

Last year's ceasefire allowed Israeli forces to retain control of 53% of Gaza initially, before eventually withdrawing. But Israel has instead expanded its control. Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed on Sunday that the Israeli-held area had reached 60% to 70% as Israeli troops search for tunnels.

Soumah Dawla, 60, said that the Israeli-held zone had recently expanded towards her home, after she woke up to find yellow bricks laid by Israeli forces to demarcate the territory had been moved closer.

"We are waiting for displacement at any moment ... Our entire life is gone, our entire future is gone, our children's future is gone," said Dawla, whose family, like nearly all Gazans, has been displaced multiple times since the war began.

Around her, piles of rubble marked what was once a Gaza City neighbourhood. Nearby, her grandchildren played with building blocks on the floor of the tent, an improvised refuge she shares with her husband.

Dawla said she had hoped Trump's announcement would bring change but "on the contrary, destruction increased, displacement increased".

"We want them to implement the agreements they talked about. We don't want talk, we want action," Dawla said.

Israel's recent expansion of the yellow line forced people to flee in at least five different areas across the Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, Deir Al-Balah, and Khan Younis, at least seven residents told Reuters.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on July 20 that 30 families were forced to leave an area near the yellow line in eastern Gaza city as a result of an Israeli displacement order.

Hamas has demanded Israel pull forces out of areas seized since last October's ceasefire as one of its demands for moving ahead with the deal.

Hamas rejects the word "disarmament" but says it will hand over its weapons for storage under the control of a U.S.-backed Palestinian administration after Israel halts operations and withdraws its forces in line with last year's ceasefire.

A spokesperson for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office told Reuters that Israel expressed concerns to Washington about the disarmament plan.

"The most important concern for Israel is that nothing can happen before Hamas completely and truly disarms ...," Doron Spielman, the spokesperson, said.

At least 1,230 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in Israeli strikes since the Trump-backed Gaza peace plan was agreed in October, according to Gaza health authorities. Hamas does not usually disclose its fatalities.

Four Israeli soldiers were killed over the same period, according to Israeli tallies. REUTERS