TEHRAN – Israel pressed on with its deadly bombardment of the Gaza Strip on Saturday, despite Hamas submitting its formal response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed Gaza ceasefire plan. The attacks also came even as Trump urged Israel to “immediately stop bombing Gaza.”

At least 20 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across the enclave on Saturday. These latest fatalities, along with dozens more from earlier strikes, have pushed the overall death toll from Israel’s two-year war on Gaza to over 67,000, according to Gaza’s health authorities. More than 169,000 people have been wounded since the conflict began in October 2023, while thousands remain missing beneath the rubble of bombed-out neighborhoods. Rescue teams say the true number of the dead is likely much higher, given the scale of destruction and limited access to many areas.

Figures from the Government Media Office in Gaza highlight the heavy toll on children, reporting that at least 20,000 minors have been killed since Israel launched war on the enclave. The ongoing Israeli blockade has also triggered a humanitarian crisis, with starvation claiming more than 450 lives, including over 150 children.

Despite growing international concern, Israel’s military has reiterated warnings that northern Gaza—including the devastated Gaza City—remains an active “combat zone.” The army has urged residents to flee south, though southern Gaza is already overwhelmed by hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians crammed into overcrowded camps and shelters. Many have been uprooted multiple times, enduring dire shortages of food, water, and medicine.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 400,000 people have fled from northern to southern Gaza since mid-August, when Israeli forces launched a renewed assault on Gaza City. Most have sought refuge in Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis, areas already struggling to cope with the influx.

On Friday, Hamas announced that it had accepted several provisions of the White House’s 20-point ceasefire plan, including the release of all captives, while saying other points required further negotiation. President Trump and multiple world leaders welcomed the response, while some analysts voiced cautious optimism that the Gaza conflict, one of the deadliest in modern history, might finally be resolved.