Hamas responds to US-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal in ‘a positive spirit'
US President Donald Trump had earlier announced a 'final proposal' for a 60-day ceasefire in the almost 21-month-old war between Israel and Hamas, stating he anticipated a reply from the parties in coming hours.
Hamas wrote on its official website: 'The Hamas movement has completed its internal consultations as well as discussions with Palestinian factions and forces regarding the latest proposal by the mediators to halt the aggression against our people in Gaza.
'The movement has delivered its response to the brotherly mediators, which was characterised by a positive spirit. Hamas is fully prepared, with all seriousness, to immediately enter a new round of negotiations on the mechanism for implementing this framework.'
In a sign of potential challenges still facing the sides, a Palestinian official of a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing to Egypt and clarity over a timetable of Israeli troop withdrawals.
Loading
Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had agreed 'to the necessary conditions to finalise' a 60-day ceasefire, during which efforts would be made to end the US ally's war in the Palestinian enclave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump's announcement, and in their public statements the two sides remain far apart. Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the militant group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media cited an Israeli official as saying Israel had received and was looking into Hamas' response to the ceasefire proposal.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Age
2 hours ago
- The Age
There is only one worthwhile test of social cohesion. We may have just failed it
The idea that an artwork should not be 'divisive' is an extraordinary one, an anti-creative concept which, if you follow it to its natural conclusion, leads us inexorably to the end-point of propaganda. And yet anxiety over possible divisiveness seems to have been the guiding emotional principle applied by the board of Creative Australia, the government's main arts body, when it abruptly sacked Australian artist Khaled Sabsabi and his curator Michael Dagostino as Australia's representatives at the prestigious Venice Biennale next year. The board, which this week reinstated the duo in a spectacular backflip, originally said it acted to avoid the erosion of public support for Australia's artistic community that might ensue from a 'prolonged and divisive debate'. It is assumed that a prolonged and divisive debate about an artwork is a bad thing, but it doesn't have to be. To be fair, the board's anxieties were well-founded. Loading It was February 2025 and a caravan full of explosives had been discovered in north-west Sydney. This incident was quickly labelled an anti-Jewish terror plot but was later revealed to be a 'criminal con job'. The Peter Dutton-led Coalition was hammering the Albanese government (then behind in the polls) for being soft on antisemitism. Horrific pictures of burnt and maimed Gazan children aired on television nightly. Jewish-Australians were encountering antisemitism in their day-to-day lives. Pro-Palestine and pro-Israel forces were demonstrating on the streets and clashing in arts organisations. Sabsabi, stridently pro-Palestine Lebanese-Australian, had made clear his view on Israel when he decided to boycott the 2022 Sydney Festival because it took $20,000 in funding from the Israeli Embassy. His boycott was well before the horror of the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas on innocent Israelis, a day of rape, torture, kidnapping and slaughter from which more and more horror has unspooled. Sabsabi's views on Israel were known when he was chosen, as was his body of work, which includes a video and sound installation called 'YOU', owned by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney. 'YOU' features multiple versions of an image of Hassan Nasrallah, former head of Hezbollah.
Sydney Morning Herald
2 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
There is only one worthwhile test of social cohesion. We may have just failed it
The idea that an artwork should not be 'divisive' is an extraordinary one, an anti-creative concept which, if you follow it to its natural conclusion, leads us inexorably to the end-point of propaganda. And yet anxiety over possible divisiveness seems to have been the guiding emotional principle applied by the board of Creative Australia, the government's main arts body, when it abruptly sacked Australian artist Khaled Sabsabi and his curator Michael Dagostino as Australia's representatives at the prestigious Venice Biennale next year. The board, which this week reinstated the duo in a spectacular backflip, originally said it acted to avoid the erosion of public support for Australia's artistic community that might ensue from a 'prolonged and divisive debate'. It is assumed that a prolonged and divisive debate about an artwork is a bad thing, but it doesn't have to be. To be fair, the board's anxieties were well-founded. Loading It was February 2025 and a caravan full of explosives had been discovered in north-west Sydney. This incident was quickly labelled an anti-Jewish terror plot but was later revealed to be a 'criminal con job'. The Peter Dutton-led Coalition was hammering the Albanese government (then behind in the polls) for being soft on antisemitism. Horrific pictures of burnt and maimed Gazan children aired on television nightly. Jewish-Australians were encountering antisemitism in their day-to-day lives. Pro-Palestine and pro-Israel forces were demonstrating on the streets and clashing in arts organisations. Sabsabi, stridently pro-Palestine Lebanese-Australian, had made clear his view on Israel when he decided to boycott the 2022 Sydney Festival because it took $20,000 in funding from the Israeli Embassy. His boycott was well before the horror of the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas on innocent Israelis, a day of rape, torture, kidnapping and slaughter from which more and more horror has unspooled. Sabsabi's views on Israel were known when he was chosen, as was his body of work, which includes a video and sound installation called 'YOU', owned by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney. 'YOU' features multiple versions of an image of Hassan Nasrallah, former head of Hezbollah.
Perth Now
2 hours ago
- Perth Now
UK police arrest backers of banned Palestine Action
UK police have arrested more than 20 people on suspicion of terrorism offences after they showed support for the newly banned Palestine Action group in London, officials say, hours after the proscription came into effect. The government moved to ban Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws last month after its activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged two planes in protest against what the group said was the United Kingdom's support for Israel. Late on Friday, the campaign lost an urgent appeal against the parliamentary decision to proscribe it as a terrorist organisation, with the ban coming into force from midnight. Under UK laws, offences include inviting support, expressing approval or displaying symbols of a banned group and are punishable by up to 14 years in prison and/or a fine. The UK has proscribed 81 groups under anti-terrorism laws, including Hamas, al-Qaeda and ISIS. On Saturday, supporters gathered in Parliament Square in Westminster, some holding placards that said "I OPPOSE GENOCIDE. I SUPPORT PALESTINE ACTION". Sky News footage showed some being led away in handcuffs from a statue of Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi in the square, as they shouted their support. United Nations experts have accused Israel of carrying out "genocidal acts" against Palestinians in the conflict in the Gaza Strip, which began after militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel has repeatedly dismissed such accusations. Palestine Action has targeted Israel-linked companies in the UK in its protests, with interior minister Yvette Cooper saying that violence and criminal damage have no place in legitimate protest and that the group's activities justify proscription. Critics of the decision, including some United Nations experts and civil liberties groups, have argued that damaging property does not amount to terrorism. At another protest on Saturday, the police arrested five pro-Palestine protesters from the Youth Demand group who threw red paint over a truck involved in London's Pride parade and glued themselves to the vehicle. The parade has since resumed.
