Latest news with #truce
Free Malaysia Today
6 hours ago
- General
- Free Malaysia Today
Qatar, Egypt say will intensify efforts to resume Gaza truce talks
Israel's renewed offensive has killed 4,149 in Gaza since March 18, raising the war's total death toll to 54,418. (AP pic) DOHA : Qatar and Egypt announced on Sunday plans to step up efforts for Gaza truce negotiations, as the Palestinian fighter group Hamas said it was prepared to 'immediately' hold a fresh round of talks. 'Qatar and Egypt, in coordination with the United States of America, affirm their intention to intensify efforts to overcome the obstacles facing the negotiations,' the two mediators said in a joint statement. 'The two countries are also striving to swiftly reach a 60-day temporary truce, which would pave the way for a permanent ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip,' the statement added. Doha, Cairo and Washington have been engaged in months of back-and-forth mediation with Israel and Hamas but another round of negotiations aimed at ending 20 months of war in Gaza this week appeared to conclude once more without a breakthrough. A two-month truce, in which dozens of hostages held by Hamas were released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, collapsed in March, with Israel intensifying military operations in Gaza afterwards. Following the statement by the Arab mediators, Hamas said it was ready 'to immediately begin a round of indirect negotiations to reach an agreement on the points of contention'. Hamas previously said it had responded positively – albeit with requested amendments – to the latest US-backed truce proposal on Saturday which would see 10 living hostages released form Gaza. Militants took 251 hostages during the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel which triggered the war, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 who the Israeli military says are dead. The US envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, wrote on X that Hamas's response was 'totally unacceptable and only takes us backward'. 'Hamas should accept the framework proposal we put forward as the basis for proximity talks, which we can begin immediately this coming week,' the envoy said. 'That is the only way we can close a 60-day ceasefire deal in the coming days,' he added. Netanyahu vowed on Monday to bring back all captives in Gaza, 'living and dead' amid uncertainty in the hostage negotiations. Israel has in recent weeks expanded its offensive in the Gaza Strip, drawing international condemnation as aid trickles in following a months-long blockade that has caused severe food and medical shortages. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 4,149 people have been killed in the territory since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 54,418, mostly civilians. Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
South China Morning Post
7 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hamas says ready to ‘immediately' hold round of Gaza truce talks
The Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Sunday it was ready to 'immediately' hold a fresh round of negotiations for a truce in Gaza after recent talks appeared to hit a dead end. 'The movement affirms its readiness to immediately begin a round of indirect negotiations to reach an agreement on the points of contention,' Hamas said in a statement after mediators Qatar and Egypt said they would intensify their efforts for a truce in war-battered Gaza. Also on Sunday, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud said the Israeli government's refusal to allow a delegation of Arab ministers into the occupied West Bank showed its 'extremism and rejection of peace'. His statement came during a joint press conference in Amman with counterparts from Jordan , Egypt and Bahrain, after they met as part of an Arab contact group that was going to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. 'Israel's refusal of the committee's visit to the West Bank embodies and confirms its extremism and refusal of any serious attempts for [a] peaceful pathway … It strengthens our will to double our diplomatic efforts within the international community to face this arrogance,' the Saudi minister said.
LBCI
8 hours ago
- General
- LBCI
Qatar, Egypt say will intensify efforts to resume Gaza truce talks
Qatar and Egypt announced on Sunday plans to step up efforts to restart truce negotiations in Gaza, where hopes for a ceasefire are fading amid the lack of agreement between Israel and Hamas on a U.S. proposal. "Qatar and Egypt, in coordination with the United States, emphasize the importance of intensifying efforts to overcome the obstacles facing the negotiations," the two mediators said in a joint statement. AFP
Free Malaysia Today
15 hours ago
- General
- Free Malaysia Today
Myanmar junta extends ceasefire again following quake
The late March earthquake has left tens of thousands of people homeless in Myanmar. (AP pic) YANGON : Myanmar's junta has extended a post-earthquake truce, after the expiry of a previous humanitarian ceasefire it was accused of flouting with a continued campaign of air strikes. The junta initially declared a truce in the many-sided civil war after a huge quake in late March killed nearly 3,800 people and left tens of thousands homeless. The truce has been extended before, although conflict monitors say fighting has continued, including regular air strikes. A statement from the junta information team yesterday said there would be an extension of the armistice – which expired May 31 – until June 30. This would 'facilitate rehabilitation and reconstruction activities in earthquake-affected areas', it said in the statement. It added that the state was 'intensively engaging in reconstruction of damaged government offices and departments, public residences and transport facilities'. The ceasefire would also allow the country to hold 'a free and fair multi-party democracy general election', according to the statement. The country's junta chief said earlier this year that a long-promised election will be held by January, the first in the war-torn nation since the military staged a coup in 2021. In the statement, the military also warned it would still strike back against any offensives by the array of ethnic armed groups and anti-coup fighters. The announcement comes after Malaysian foreign minister Mohamad Hasan used a regional meeting last week to call for the extension and expansion of a ceasefire 'beyond the currently affected zones'. Malaysia currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). The bloc has led so far fruitless diplomatic efforts to end Myanmar's conflict since the junta deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.
CNA
a day ago
- Business
- CNA
Myanmar junta extends ceasefire again after quake
YANGON: Myanmar's junta has extended a post-earthquake truce, after the expiry of a previous humanitarian ceasefire it was accused of flouting with a continued campaign of air strikes. The junta initially declared a truce in the many-sided civil war after a huge quake in late March killed nearly 3,800 people and left tens of thousands homeless. The truce has been extended before, although conflict monitors say fighting has continued, including regular air strikes. A statement from the junta information team on Saturday said there would be an extension of the armistice - which expired on May 31 - until Jun 30. This would "facilitate rehabilitation and reconstruction activities in earthquake-affected areas", it said in the statement. It added that the state was "intensively engaging in reconstruction of damaged government offices and departments, public residences and transport facilities". The ceasefire would also allow the country to hold "a free and fair multi-party democracy general election", according to the statement. 45:01 Min The country's junta chief said earlier this year that a long-promised election will be held by January, the first in the war-torn nation since the military staged a coup in 2021. In the statement, the military also warned it would still strike back against any offensives by the array of ethnic armed groups and anti-coup fighters. The announcement comes after Malaysian foreign minister Mohamad Hasan used a regional meeting last week to call for the extension and expansion of a ceasefire"beyond the currently affected zones". Malaysia currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The bloc has led so far fruitless diplomatic efforts to end Myanmar's conflict since the junta deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.
