Heavy Israeli bombardment rocked Gaza City on Wednesday, witnesses said, as Hamas weighed US President Donald Trump's plan to end nearly two years of devastating war in the Palestinian territory.
A Palestinian source close to Hamas told AFP on Wednesday that "no final decision" had been made and that "the movement will likely need two to three days".
"Hamas wants to amend some of the items such as the disarmament clause and the expulsion of Hamas," the source said.
They added that Hamas had informed mediators of the "need to provide international guarantees for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and guarantees that Israel will not violate a ceasefire through assassinations inside or outside Gaza".
Trump's proposal demands that Hamas militants fully disarm and be excluded from future roles in the government, but says those who agree to "peaceful co-existence" would be given amnesty.
Trump a day earlier gave Hamas an ultimatum of "three or four days" to accept the plan, which is backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages within 72 hours, Hamas's disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
World powers, including Arab and Muslim nations, have welcomed the proposal, which also includes a post-war transitional authority for Gaza headed by Trump himself.
'Ceasefire at any cost'
The territory's civil defense agency -- a rescue force operating under Hamas authority -- reported that Israeli strikes killed at least 13 people in Gaza City on Wednesday, including six in a strike on a school-turned-shelter and seven others in a family home.
When asked by AFP, the Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swathes of the territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense and the Israeli military.
"The explosions do not stop," said Rabah Al-Halabi, 60, who is living in a tent on the premises of Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital.
"I will not leave because the situation in Gaza City is no different from the situation in the southern Gaza Strip. All areas are dangerous, the bombing is everywhere, and displacement is terrifying and humiliating," he told AFP.
"We are waiting for death, or perhaps relief from God and for the truce to come."
The military said it would close on Wednesday the last remaining route for residents of southern Gaza to access the north.
"Al-Rashid Street will be closed to traffic from the southern sector area at 12:00 (0900 GMT)," the military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X, adding that "movement southward will be allowed for those who were unable to evacuate Gaza City."
Fadel Al-Jadba, 26, said he also would not leave Gaza City.
He said tanks were in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood and that he "would not be surprised if they advance into Al-Rimal", where he was sheltering.
"We want a ceasefire at any cost because we are frustrated, exhausted, and find no one in the world standing with us."
'Two opinions' in Hamas
Trump told reporters on Tuesday that Hamas had "about three or four days" to accept his 20-point Gaza plan, later warning that the Islamist movement would "pay in hell" if it refused.
A source familiar with negotiations taking place in the Qatari capital Doha told AFP that "two opinions exist within Hamas".
"The first supports unconditional approval, as the priority is a ceasefire under Trump's guarantees, with mediators ensuring Israel implements the plan," the source said.
"The second has serious reservations regarding key clauses, rejecting disarmament and the expulsion of any Palestinian from Gaza. They favour conditional approval with clarifications reflecting Hamas's and the resistance factions' demands," the source added.
"Hamas and the factions want an immediate ceasefire, but not at the cost of compromising core national principles."
Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's offensive has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed 66,097 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.
With AFP
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