Journalists should be allowed into Gaza: Trump
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Hindustan Times
18 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Hamas accepts 60-day Gaza ceasefire plan, says official; Israel yet to respond: Report
Hamas has accepted a new ceasefire proposal for Gaza without requesting amendments, a source from the group told AFP Monday, after a fresh diplomatic push to end more than 22 months of war. Displaced Palestinians make their way towards the site of a humanitarian aid airdrop at the Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip, (AFP) Mediators Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, have struggled to secure a lasting truce in the conflict, which has triggered a dire humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. But after receiving a new proposal from meditators, Hamas said it was ready for talks. "Hamas has delivered its response to the mediators, confirming that Hamas and the factions agreed to the new ceasefire proposal without requesting any amendments," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Israel has yet to respond. A Palestinian source familiar with the talks said mediators were "expected to announce that an agreement has been reached and set a date for the resumption of talks", adding guarantees were offered to ensure implementation and pursue a permanent solution. Another Palestinian official earlier said mediators had proposed an initial 60-day truce and hostage release in two batches. The proposal comes more than a week after Israel's security cabinet approved plans to expand the war into Gaza City and nearby refugee camps, which has sparked international outcry as well as domestic opposition. 'Confronted and destroyed' An Islamic Jihad source told AFP the plan envisaged a 60-day ceasefire "during which 10 Israeli hostages would be released alive, along with a number of bodies". Out of 251 hostages taken during Hamas's October 2023 attack that triggered the war, 49 are still held in Gaza including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. The Islamic Jihad source said "the remaining captives would be released in a second phase", with negotiations for a broader settlement to follow. They added that "all factions are supportive" of the Egyptian and Qatari proposal. US President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social: "We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!!" "The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be." Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel "will agree to an agreement in which all the hostages are released at once and according to our conditions for ending the war". Meanwhile, in a now familiar scene in Gaza, AFP footage from the southern city of Khan Yunis showed crowds of mourners kneeling over the shrouded bodies of their loved ones who were killed seeking aid the day before. 'Beyond imagination' Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, visiting the Rafah border crossing with Gaza on Monday, said Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was visiting "to consolidate our existing common efforts in order to apply maximum pressure on the two sides to reach a deal as soon as possible". Alluding to the dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people living in the Gaza Strip, where UN agencies and aid groups have warned of famine, Abdelatty stressed the urgency of reaching an agreement. "The current situation on the ground is beyond imagination," he said. Egypt said on Monday it was willing to join a potential international force deployed to Gaza, but only if backed by a UN Security Council resolution and accompanied by a "political horizon". 'Deliberate' starvation On the ground, Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 11 people across the territory on Monday, including six killed by Israeli fire in the south. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it was "not aware of any casualties as a result of IDF fire" in the southern areas reported by the civil defence. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swathes of the Palestinian territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military. Rights group Amnesty International meanwhile accused Israel of enacting a "deliberate policy" of starvation in Gaza and "systematically destroying the health, well-being and social fabric of Palestinian life". Israel, while heavily restricting aid allowed into Gaza, has repeatedly rejected claims of deliberate starvation. Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's offensive has killed more than 62,004 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza which the United Nations considers reliable.
Axios
18 minutes ago
- Axios
Hamas accepts latest Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal proposal
Hamas has accepted an updated proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza presented by the Qatari and Egyptian mediators, two sources with knowledge of the talks tell Axios. Why it matters: This is part of a last-ditch effort to reach a deal and avoid a major new Israeli offensive to occupy Gaza City. A diplomatic source said the deal Hamas accepted is "98% similar" to the last U.S.-backed proposal. Israel agreed to that proposal, but talks broke down when Hamas did not. Israeli officials said they still haven't received the written Hamas response and therefore cannot say whether they find it acceptable. The second source said the proposal Hamas accepted is a partial deal for a 60-day ceasefire, the release of 10 live hostages, 18 deceased hostages and the release of Palestinian prisoners. The news comes just hours after President Trump urged Israel to expand its attacks on Hamas, saying the hostages would not be freed until Hamas was "confronted and destroyed." State of play: Trump's comments aligned with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's push for the occupation of Gaza City. They also came a day after more than 200,000 Israelis took to the streets to demand Netanyahu not launch a new offensive and instead sign a deal. It was the biggest such demonstration since the beginning of the war. The plan to expand the war has faced enormous opposition abroad because it would deepen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and among Israel's top military commanders, who fear it will put the hostages in danger. But Trump has expressed tacit support, including during an interview with Axios last week. What he's saying:"We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!! The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will to WIN, or don't play at all!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. Between the lines: Israel has been pummeling Hamas and nearly all of Gaza for nearly two years, and some Israeli security officials question the idea that scaling up the attacks will achieve what 21 months of war have not. State of play: The Egyptian and Qatari mediators met Sunday in Cairo with Hamas representatives and presented them with new ideas for a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, according to a diplomatic source. The source familiar said the because the talks on Sunday did not yield sufficient progress, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani travelled to Egypt on Monday to meet Hamas negotiators. Hamas chief negotiator Khalil al-Haya gave the Qatari prime minister the group's updated response to the recent Gaza deal proposal during their meeting in Egypt, according to the diplomatic source. "The goal was to hold direct discussions with Hamas and the other Palestinian factions and to push the talks forward," the diplomatic source said. That meeting took place several days after the director of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency traveled to Doha to meet the Qatari prime minister to discuss the Gaza talks.
Int'l Business Times
19 minutes ago
- Int'l Business Times
Hamas Accepts New Gaza Truce Plan: Hamas Official
Hamas has accepted a new ceasefire proposal for Gaza without requesting amendments, a source from the group told AFP Monday, after a fresh diplomatic push to end more than 22 months of war. Mediators Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, have struggled to secure a lasting truce in the conflict, which has triggered a dire humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. But after receiving a new proposal from meditators, Hamas said it was ready for talks. "Hamas has delivered its response to the mediators, confirming that Hamas and the factions agreed to the new ceasefire proposal without requesting any amendments," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Israel has yet to respond. A Palestinian source familiar with the talks said mediators were "expected to announce that an agreement has been reached and set a date for the resumption of talks", adding guarantees were offered to ensure implementation and pursue a permanent solution. Another Palestinian official earlier said mediators had proposed an initial 60-day truce and hostage release in two batches. The proposal comes more than a week after Israel's security cabinet approved plans to expand the war into Gaza City and nearby refugee camps, which has sparked international outcry as well as domestic opposition. An Islamic Jihad source told AFP the plan envisaged a 60-day ceasefire "during which 10 Israeli hostages would be released alive, along with a number of bodies". Out of 251 hostages taken during Hamas's October 2023 attack that triggered the war, 49 are still held in Gaza including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. The Islamic Jihad source said "the remaining captives would be released in a second phase", with negotiations for a broader settlement to follow. They added that "all factions are supportive" of the Egyptian and Qatari proposal. US President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social: "We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!!" "The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be." Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel "will agree to an agreement in which all the hostages are released at once and according to our conditions for ending the war". Meanwhile, in a now familiar scene in Gaza, AFP footage from the southern city of Khan Yunis showed crowds of mourners kneeling over the shrouded bodies of their loved ones who were killed seeking aid the day before. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, visiting the Rafah border crossing with Gaza on Monday, said Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was visiting "to consolidate our existing common efforts in order to apply maximum pressure on the two sides to reach a deal as soon as possible". Alluding to the dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people living in the Gaza Strip, where UN agencies and aid groups have warned of famine, Abdelatty stressed the urgency of reaching an agreement. "The current situation on the ground is beyond imagination," he said. Egypt said on Monday it was willing to join a potential international force deployed to Gaza, but only if backed by a UN Security Council resolution and accompanied by a "political horizon". On the ground, Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 11 people across the territory on Monday, including six killed by Israeli fire in the south. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it was "not aware of any casualties as a result of IDF fire" in the southern areas reported by the civil defence. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swathes of the Palestinian territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military. Rights group Amnesty International meanwhile accused Israel of enacting a "deliberate policy" of starvation in Gaza and "systematically destroying the health, well-being and social fabric of Palestinian life". Israel, while heavily restricting aid allowed into Gaza, has repeatedly rejected claims of deliberate starvation. Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's offensive has killed more than 62,004 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza which the United Nations considers reliable. Rights group Amnesty International has accused Israel of enacting a 'deliberate policy' of starvation in Gaza AFP
