Hamas says US ceasefire plan for Gaza backed by Israel fails to meet demands
Hamas
has said a new Israeli-backed US
ceasefire plan
would not meet its demands for ending the war and the Israeli blockade of
Gaza
.
However, Hamas said it is studying the proposal 'with all national responsibility'.
Bassem Naim, a top Hamas official, told the Associated Press that Israel's response 'means perpetuating the occupation and continuing the killing and famine'.
He said it 'does not respond to any of our people's demands, foremost among which is stopping the war and famine'.
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Another senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, told Reuters the terms echoed Israel's position and did not contain commitments to end the war, withdraw Israeli troops or admit aid as Hamas has demanded.
Hamas said it was reviewing the plan and will respond today or tomorrow. Deep differences between the militant group and Israel have stymied previous attempts to restore a ceasefire that broke down in March.
Earlier the US said Israel has 'signed off' on the proposal. US president Donald Trump and US envoy Steve Witkoff 'submitted a ceasefire proposal to Hamas that Israel backed,' the White House said on Thursday, adding that discussions were 'ongoing'.
According to a draft leaked to Reuters, the proposal includes a 60-day ceasefire that would be guaranteed by Mr Trump and mediators Qatar and Egypt and an exchange of 28 Israeli hostages – alive and dead – for 125 Palestinian prisoners sentenced to life and the remains of 180 dead Palestinians in the first week.
Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour broke down in tears as he described the suffering of children amid the ongoing war in Gaza. Video: Reuters
Aid would be sent to Gaza as soon as Hamas signs off on the agreement according to the draft and Hamas would release the last 30 hostages once a permanent ceasefire is in place, Reuters reported.
According to a draft seen by Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the aid would be distributed by channels including the UN and Red Crescent.
Although all Israeli offensive military activities would cease on the agreement going into force, the army would be redeployed in areas in northern and southern Gaza, as well as the so-called Netzarim Corridor, the paper reported.
French president Emmanuel Macron has said European countries should 'harden the collective position' against Israel if it does not respond appropriately to the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
As Agence-France Presse reported, with international pressure mounting on Israel over the deepening hunger crisis in Gaza, Mr Macron said action was needed 'in the next few hours and days'.
He also asserted recognition of a Palestinian state with conditions was 'not only a moral duty, but a political necessity'.
The Israeli military issued a new evacuation warning covering a large area of northern Gaza late on Thursday. It calls for Palestinians residing in Al-Atatra, Jabalia, and the Gaza City neighbourhoods of Shujaiya and Al-Zaytun to head west, warning that these areas 'will be considered dangerous combat zones' immediately.
Israeli forces are carrying out a 'forced evacuation' of patients and medical staff inside Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza, hospital officials said.
The latest Palestinian death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza reached 54,249 on Thursday, according to figures by the territory's Gaza-controlled health ministry.
The UN criticised Israel's announcement that it will establish 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, describing the decision as moving 'in the wrong direction'.
A UN spokesperson repeated calls by UN chief António Guterres for Israel to 'cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory.' – Guardian
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