• Trump’s Gaza initiative opens “window of opportunity”: UN
• US president calls 20-point plan “last chance” for Hamas.
• Trump warns “innocent Palestinians” to leave for safer Gaza areas.

---

US President Donald Trump gave Palestinian Hamas until Sunday evening to accept his proposal to end the nearly two-year-old war with US ally Israel in the Gaza Strip, or “all HELL” would break out.

“An agreement must be reached with Hamas by Sunday Evening at SIX (6) PM, Washington, DC time,” Trump posted on social media on Friday. “Every Country has signed on! If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas.”

The plan specifies an immediate ceasefire, an exchange of all hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, a staged Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and the introduction of a transitional government led by an international body.

Trump first presented his plan to leaders and officials from Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Pakistan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, on the sidelines of last week’s UN General Assembly.

Mediators Qatar and Egypt then shared the 20-point plan with Hamas late on Monday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared alongside Trump at the White House and endorsed the document, saying it satisfied Israel’s war aims.

‘Intensive Discussion’ underway on Hamas response

Hamas was not involved in the negotiations that led to the proposal, which calls on the Hamas to disarm, a demand it has previously rejected.

Asked whether his group had finalised its response to Trump’s Gaza plan, a Hamas official told Reuters late on Thursday: “Not yet, intensive discussion is underway.” The official said Hamas had held talks with Arab mediators, Turkey and Palestinian factions to shape “the Palestinian response.”

On Tuesday, Trump said he would give Hamas three to four days to accept the plan. On Friday, he described Hamas as a “ruthless and violent threat in the Middle East.”

In his Truth Social post on Friday, Trump made an apparent reference to Israel’s offensive in Gaza City. He said remaining Hamas members in Gaza are trapped and “will be hunted down, and killed” without a deal, and warned “innocent Palestinians” to leave for safer areas of Gaza.

The United Nations has repeatedly said that nowhere in Gaza is safe. Israel blocked Gaza City’s main road on Thursday and has told its million residents to flee south, warning it was their last chance to escape a major offensive.

Trump plan ‘window of opportunity,’ says UN aid chief

Gaza City and the surrounding areas are suffering from famine, and it will likely spread, a global hunger monitor determined in late August. Israel stopped all aid for 11 weeks from March until mid-May and says it is improving access, but the UN and aid groups say much more is needed.

“President Trump’s Gaza initiative opens a window of opportunity. It offers both a chance for Palestinians to receive life-saving aid at the scale urgently needed, and to bring the hostages home,” UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said in a statement on Friday. “We are ready and eager to act.”

Trump’s plan calls for aid to Gaza to be distributed without interference by neutral international groups, with the UN promising 170,000 metric tons ready to enter.

Israel began its offensive in Gaza after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken as hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 66,000 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.

Trump said in his Friday post that “more than 25,000 Hamas ‘soldiers’ have already been killed.” Hamas rarely discloses fatalities among its fighters.

The group leading Morocco’s mass protests called on Friday for the government’s dismissal, following days of unrest that have seen the deaths of three people.

The demand came after fresh demonstrations demanding reforms to the health and education sectors took place across the kingdom on Thursday, a sixth consecutive day of largely peaceful protests pockmarked with spates of violence.

“We demand the dismissal of the current government for its failure to protect the constitutional rights of Moroccans and respond to their social demands,” protest group GenZ 212 said.

The group, whose organisers remain unknown, also demanded the “release of all those detained in connection with the peaceful protests”.

The rallies across the usually stable country have been fuelled by anger over social inequality, particularly following reports last month of the deaths of eight pregnant women at a public hospital in the city of Agadir.

Many Moroccans feel that the public health and education sectors should be improved as the kingdom pushes forward with major infrastructure projects to host the Africa Cup of Nations in December and part of the 2030 World Cup.

GenZ 212 said it was basing its demand for the firing of the government on an article in the constitution that “grants His Majesty the King the power to appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister and members of the government”.

The group has largely used the Discord online messaging platform to spread its calls for protest, and has repeatedly distanced itself from the violence and vandalism seen in some cities.

In the capital Rabat on Thursday, demonstrators carrying Moroccan flags demanded “health and not just stadiums”, according to an AFP journalist, who said there were no violent incidents.

Other rallies were reported in Casablanca, Marrakech and Agadir, also with no sign of unrest.

‘Dialogue’

Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch said in his first public address since the unrest started that his government was willing to “engage in dialogue” and “respond to the (protesters’) demands”.

The premier also said three people had been killed during protests the night before, describing the events as “regrettable”.

An interior ministry spokesman said that all three demonstrators were killed after attempting to storm a local law enforcement station on Wednesday night.

The authorities had initially said two protesters were killed when officers opened fire on a group of demonstrators that they accused of wielding “bladed weapons” and said had attempted to “storm” the station near Agadir.

Health minister Amine Tehraoui said in a speech to parliament on Wednesday that several reforms were underway but acknowledged that they were “still insufficient to close the sector´s gaps”.

Since the demonstrations started, hundreds of mostly young people have been arrested.

GenZ 212 has urged demonstrators against violence and had called for Thursday’s protests to be peaceful “as part of a civilised and responsible expression of our demands”.

As of Wednesday night, more than 400 people had been arrested during the rallies, with nearly 300 people — mainly from the security forces — injured, according to the interior ministry.

The ministry also said 80 public and private establishments have been vandalised, adding that demonstrators had also damaged hundreds of cars.

Some 134 people, six of whom are in detention, are set to be tried in Rabat soon, according to lawyers.

‘Dignity, social justice’

Demonstrators have called for “the fall of corruption” as well as “freedom, dignity and social justice”.

Despite its calls for protests, GenZ 212 has also asserted its “love for the homeland and king”, referring to Morocco’s monarch Mohammed VI.

However, it says it stands against some political parties.

Clashes have erupted in some cities, including in Sidi Bibi, near Agadir, where demonstrators set offices of the local commune headquarters on fire, according to media reports and videos on social media.

In the city of Sale, north of the capital Rabat, an AFP journalist saw hooded demonstrators set fire to two police cars and a bank branch.

“The young people I saw vandalising and breaking things in Sale have nothing to do with GenZ 212,” said resident Hicham Madani.

“They are young thugs who came with the intention of vandalising.”

• Discussions would centre around bilateral ties, trade: ministry.
• Indian FM spox says already speaking to Afghan administration.
• Analyst says India visit highly significant for Taliban govt.

---

The UN Security Council Committee has temporarily lifted a travel ban on the Afghan Taliban foreign minister, which would allow him to visit India between October 9 and 16, India’s foreign ministry said on Friday.

If confirmed, it would be the first visit to India by a senior leader of the Taliban-run Afghan administration since it seized power in 2021 after 20 years of US military presence.

Delhi and Kabul have traditionally enjoyed close ties when the Taliban were not in power.

Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is among Afghan Taliban members who are under UN sanctions, including a travel ban and asset freeze. Temporary exemptions are sometimes granted for diplomacy.

India’s foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters that New Delhi had already been speaking to the Afghan administration, and noted that it had provided support after an earthquake on August 31. He did not specifically confirm that the visit would take place.

Discussions during Muttaqi’s trip would centre around bilateral cooperation, trade exchanges, exports of dry fruit, facilities in the health sector, consular services and various ports, said Zia Ahmad Takal, deputy spokesperson of the Afghan Taliban’s foreign ministry.

He did not, however, mention the dates of the visit.

Indian and Afghan media have reported that Muttaqi would travel to Russia before visiting New Delhi.

In Moscow, he was expected to discuss the situation in Afghanistan with representatives from Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Central Asian countries, the reports said.

Hekmatullah Hekmat, an Afghan political analyst, said the visit to India was highly significant for the Taliban government.

“Afghanistan is in dire need of establishing relations with regional countries, especially its neighbours. It needs to build political, economic, and trade ties and to gain recognition,” he said.

Only Russia has so far recognised the Taliban government. India closed its embassy in Kabul in 2021, but a year later opened a technical mission to coordinate humanitarian assistance.