Hamas confirms it has responded to Israel's latest Gaza truce proposal
The response included proposed amendments to clauses on the entry of aid, maps of areas from which the Israeli army should withdraw, and guarantees on securing a permanent end to the war, according to a Palestinian source familiar with ongoing talks in Doha.
Negotiators from both sides have been holding indirect talks in Doha with mediators in an attempt to reach an agreement on a truce deal that would see the release of Israeli hostages.
Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas's 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. But the talks have dragged on for more than two weeks without a breakthrough, with each side blaming the other for refusing to budge on their key demands.
For Israel, dismantling Hamas's military and governing capabilities is non-negotiable, while Hamas demands firm guarantees on a lasting truce, a full withdrawal of Israeli troops and the free flow of aid into Gaza.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer on Wednesday accused Hamas of obstructing talks.
"Israel has agreed to the Qatari proposal and the updated (US special envoy Steve) Witkoff proposal, it is Hamas that is refusing," Mencer told reporters, adding that Israel's negotiating team was still in Doha and talks were ongoing.
The United States said Witkoff will head to Europe this week for talks on a possible ceasefire and an aid corridor. More than 100 aid organizations warned on Wednesday that "mass starvation" was spreading in Gaza.
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France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Gaza war deepens Israel's divides
Hostage families and peace activists want Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to secure a ceasefire with Hamas and free the remaining captives abducted during the October 2023 Hamas attacks. Right-wing members of Netanyahu's cabinet, meanwhile, want to seize the moment to occupy and annex more Palestinian land, at the risk of sparking further international criticism. The debate has divided the country and strained private relationships, undermining national unity at Israel's moment of greatest need in the midst of its longest war. "As the war continues we become more and more divided," said Emanuel Yitzchak Levi, a 29-year-old poet, schoolteacher and peace activist from Israel's religious left who attended a peace meeting at Tel Aviv's Dizengoff Square. "It's really hard to keep being a friend, or family, a good son, a good brother to someone that's -- from your point of view -- supporting crimes against humanity," he told AFP. "And I think it's also hard for them to support me if they think I betrayed my own country." As if to underline this point, a tall, dark-haired cyclist angered by the gathering pulled up his bike to shout "traitors" at the attendees and to accuse activists of playing into Hamas's hands. No flowers Dvir Berko, a 36-year-old worker at one of the city's many IT startups, paused his scooter journey across downtown Tel Aviv to share a more reasoned critique of the peace activists' call for a ceasefire. Berko and others accused international bodies of exaggerating the threat of starvation in Gaza, and he told AFP that Israel should withhold aid until the remaining 49 hostages are freed. "The Palestinian people, they're controlled by Hamas. Hamas takes their food. Hamas starts this war and, in every war that happens, bad things are going to happen. You're not going to send the other side flowers," he argued. "So, if they open a war, they should realise and understand what's going to happen after they open the war." The raised voices in Tel Aviv reflect a deepening polarisation in Israeli society since Hamas's October 2023 attacks left 1,219 people dead, independent journalist Meron Rapoport told AFP. Rapoport, a former senior editor at liberal daily Haaretz, noted that Israel had been divided before the latest conflict, and had even seen huge anti-corruption protests against Netanyahu and perceived threats to judicial independence. Hamas's attack initially triggered a wave of national unity, but as the conflict has dragged on and Israel's conduct has come under international criticism, attitudes on the right and left have diverged and hardened. Political motives "The moment Hamas acted there was a coming together," Rapoport said. "Nearly everyone saw it as a just war. "As the war went on it has made people come to the conclusion that the central motivations are not military reasons but political ones." According to a survey conducted between July 24 and 28 by the Institute for National Security Studies, with 803 Jewish and 151 Arab respondents, Israelis narrowly see Hamas as primarily to blame for the delay in reaching a deal on freeing the hostages. Only 24 percent of Israeli Jews are distressed or "very distressed" by the humanitarian situation in Gaza -- where, according to UN-mandated reports, "a famine is unfolding" and Palestinian civilians are often killed while seeking food. But there is support for the families of the Israeli hostages, many of whom have accused Netanyahu of prolonging the war artificially to strengthen his own political position. "In Israel there's a mandatory army service," said Mika Almog, 50, an author and peace activist with the It's Time Coalition. "So these soldiers are our children and they are being sent to die in a false criminal war that is still going on for nothing other than political reasons." In an open letter published Monday, 550 former top diplomats, military officers and spy chiefs urged US President Donald Trump to tell Netanyahu that the military stage of the war was already won and he must now focus on a hostage deal. "At first this war was a just war, a defensive war, but when we achieved all military objectives, this war ceased to be a just war," said Ami Ayalon, former director of the Shin Bet security service. The conflict "is leading the State of Israel to lose its security and identity", he warned in a video released to accompany the letter. This declaration by the security officers -- those who until recently prosecuted Israel's overt and clandestine wars -- echoed the views of the veteran peace activists that have long protested against them. 'Awful period' Biblical archaeologist and kibbutz resident Avi Ofer is 70 years old and has long campaigned for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. He and fellow activists wore yellow ribbons with the length in days of the war written on it: "667". The rangy historian was close to tears as he told AFP: "This is the most awful period in my life." "Yes, Hamas are war criminals. We know what they do. The war was justified at first. At the beginning it was not a genocide," he said. Not many Israelis use the term "genocide", but they are aware that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is considering whether to rule on a complaint that the country has breached the Genocide Convention. While only a few are anguished about the threat of starvation and violence hanging over their neighbours, many are worried that Israel may become an international pariah -- and that their conscript sons and daughters be treated like war crimes suspects when abroad. Israel and Netanyahu -- with support from the United States -- have denounced the case in The Hague. © 2025 AFP
LeMonde
8 hours ago
- LeMonde
Israeli court suspends move to dismiss AG, vocal critic of Netanyahu
The Israeli cabinet voted unanimously on Monday, August 4, to dismiss Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, a vocal critic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, only for a court to immediately suspend the move. Justice Minister Yariv Levin announced the cabinet's decision and addressed a letter to Baharav-Miara saying she "should not try to impose herself on a government that has no trust in her and cannot work with her effectively". Immediately after the decision, however, opposition party Yesh Atid and activist groups filed urgent petitions to Israel's High Court of Justice seeking to halt the dismissal. In response, the court issued an injunction suspending the decision and preventing the government from appointing a substitute. It announced it would hear further petitions against the sacking in the following 30 days. Baharav-Miara has been at loggerheads with the government since it took office, challenging the legality of some of Netanyahu's decisions, most recently his attempt in May to fire the head of the Shin Bet security agency, Ronen Bar. Bar's agency has been conducting an investigation into illicit payments from Qatar to some of Netanyahu's close aides, a case known in the Israeli press as "Qatargate". His firing has been viewed as a political move.
Euronews
11 hours ago
- Euronews
EU diplomats confirm they won't yet sanction Israel on Gaza
EU diplomats on Monday failed to agree once again on a partial suspension of Israel from the Horizon Europe fund in response to the war in Gaza, several diplomats said. Gathered online for their regular Mashreq/Maghreb Working Party and despite mounting pressure on Israel over the hunger crisis in Gaza, the 27 EU diplomats still couldn't reach any qualified majority on a European Commission proposal to cut Israel from partial access to the EU's €95 billion Horizon Europe research fund. 'The situation has not changed,' one EU diplomat said, referring to a formal meeting of EU ambassadors last week which also failed to agree to the Commission's proposal. The diplomat said the issue was now in the hands of the EU's foreign affairs ministers, who will meet informally on 29 August. With Israel facing global criticism over allowing starvation in the besieged strip and talks between Hamas and Israel at an impasse, the proposal itself would be a largely symbolic gesture. Israel would lose access to €200 millions' worth of future grants and investments in Horizon's European Investment Council (EIC) which specialises in so-called disruptive technologies. Commission officials say it would not affect support for fundamental or collaborative research. But even for a minimal sanction, there was no agreement among Europeans on Monday. Some EU countries have preferred to condemn Israel through individual initiatives like France's recognition of Palestine. The diplomat said support from the big countries like Germany or Italy, which is essential for a qualified majority vote to pass, was still lacking on Monday. Germany and Italy are part of those who 'prefer that dialogue with Israel continues', he said, while France, Spain and Ireland support the Commission proposal. Others including Romania and Finland 'are still examining' the text, he said. 'The refusal of certain member states to take even this smallest possible step to pressure Israel, while civilians continue to be killed and starved in Gaza, is absolutely incriminating,' said Martin Konecny, who heads the European Middle East Project in Brussels. Monday's meeting also took place a day after videos showing two Israeli hostages in Gaza appearing emaciated and distressed were released, sparking outrage among western leaders.
