Gaza plan: Hamas says ready as Israel denies approval

Hamas said on Saturday it remained ready to move ahead with the latest stage of a US-backed Gaza peace plan, while Israel said it had not approved the draft now being discussed.

A Hamas official told AFP that Hamas and other factions had informed mediators they were ready to begin implementing the agreement and move to its second phase, if Israel approved it and began carrying it out.

The official said Hamas was urging the US administration to pressure Israel to abide by the agreement.

Under the latest stage described by Hamas, the group would hand over weapons to a new Palestinian governing committee in Gaza. US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace has said Israel would carry out a phased withdrawal from much of Gaza in tandem.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel had not agreed to the “draft” presented by the Board of Peace. Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace's high representative for Gaza, said after meeting Netanyahu that Israel would withdraw only after Hamas had fully disarmed.

Israel's military has said it will keep striking Hamas. On Saturday, Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis reported three people injured by Israeli army gunfire.

Gaza's health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority, says Israeli operations have killed 1,257 Palestinians since October last year, when the two sides agreed to a Trump-backed ceasefire. AFP said the ministry's figures are considered reliable by the United Nations. The Israeli army has reported five deaths in its ranks during the same period.