Israel bombs Gaza high-rise as US advances ceasefire proposal


By WAFAA SHURAFA, MELANIE LIDMAN and SAMY MAGDY, Associated Press

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel struck and destroyed another high-rise building in Gaza City on Monday after warning residents to evacuate, part of an offensive aimed at taking over the largest Palestinian city. The military said it was targeting Hamas observation posts and bombs placed around the 12-story office building.

Over the past several days, Israel has destroyed multiple high-rise buildings in Gaza City, accusing Hamas of putting surveillance infrastructure in them. It has ordered people to flee ahead of its ground offensive into the city of some 1 million residents, which experts say is experiencing famine.

President Donald Trump said that he was giving his “last warning” to Hamas regarding a possible ceasefire, as Arab officials described a new U.S. proposal for the immediate release of all the remaining hostages in exchange for 3,000 Palestinian prisoners and a temporary ceasefire. A senior Hamas official called it a “humiliating surrender document,” but the group said it would keep negotiating.

Israeli police and rescue teams inspect the scene of a shooting attack carried out by two Palestinian gunmen, in which several people were killed and others injured at a bus stop in Jerusalem, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

In Jerusalem, meanwhile, two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a bus station, killing six people and wounding 12 in the worst such attack on Israelis in nearly a year. Tensions have soared across Israel and the occupied West Bank in the two years since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack out of Gaza ignited the war.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said hospitals received the bodies of 65 people killed by Israeli fire over the past 24 hours, with another 320 people wounded.

‘Last warning’ proposal

The “last warning” proposal, presented by Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, calls for a negotiated end of the war and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza once the hostages are released and a ceasefire is established, according to officials familiar with the talks.

The prisoner exchange would include hundreds of Palestinians serving life sentences, added the officials from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Egypt, who all spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door talks. Details of the proposal were first reported by Axios.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, speaking to reporters in Hungary, confirmed that Israel had accepted the latest U.S. proposal and expressed hope it would succeed.

Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official, said the proposal seemed designed to be rejected because it calls for the release of all hostages on the first day, and for Hamas to disarm, and it conditions the withdrawal of Israeli forces on the establishment of a government in Gaza acceptable to Israel.

He said Hamas and allied groups seek an agreement that will “end the war, halt the genocide, and open the horizon for a political solution that achieves our legitimate national goals, but not by signing a humiliating surrender document.”

An Egyptian official said the new proposal, which Arab mediators received from the U.S., was broader than previous ones and would require negotiations over ending the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and Israel’s demand that Hamas disarm.



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