Hamas rejects latest Gaza cease-fire proposal in Qatar, insists on IDF withdrawal from the Strip
Talks in Doha this week have centered on a US-backed Qatari proposal that would bring a temporary halt to the nearly three years of bloodshed and a release of some of the remaining hostages. But the hangup has been the terror group's demands over the extent of Israeli forces' withdrawal from the enclave, sources said.
Israel has already accepted the proposal, according to the Times of Israel.
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5 The sticking point in the talks is the extent of Israeli forces' withdrawal from the Gaza strip.
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'Hamas rejected the Qatari proposal, is creating obstacles, refuses to compromise and accompanies the talks with psychological warfare aimed at sabotaging the negotiations,' a senior official in Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office told reporters, according to the Jerusalem Post.
'Hamas remains steadfast in its refusal, holding positions that do not allow the mediators to advance an agreement.'
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The stalled two-month truce calls for both sides to stop firing at each other to allow for roughly half the hostages to be released, and humanitarian aid to be brought in — while Israeli forces withdraw to a buffer zone in Gaza and negotiations for a permanent cease-fire take place.
Earlier Saturday, a senior Palestinian official told the BBC the cease-fire negotiations were on the verge of collapse.
5 Israelis have been pushing for a hostage deal.
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In the latest offer, first presented Wednesday, Tel Aviv agreed to ease some of Hamas' demands regarding the redeployment of its troops, following pressure from Washington.
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But maps detailing the partial withdrawal of IDF troops from occupying Gaza was not enough to satisfy the terror group, sources said, adding, however, that the indirect talks are still expected to continue through the weekend.
The rejected maps had Tel Aviv keeping control of roughly one-third of territory in Gaza, including a 1.86-mile buffer zone in Rafah to create a 'humanitarian city' for the population, where Gazans would be checked for weapons and be barred from leaving as Israel would encourage their emigration outside of the Strip, Times of Israel reported.
5 Smoke rises from an airstrike in northern Gaza.
ATEF SAFADI/EPA/Shutterstock
Hamas maintains that it wants to see no military presence in Gaza. The terror group had initially agreed to a buffer zone of less than 1 mile as a starting point for negotiations with Tel Aviv, but balked over expanded IDF control.
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The current deal would also include the release of 10 Israeli hostages — half of the 20 believed to still be alive. Hamas would also return the bodies of 18 of the 30 hostages who have died in captivity. In exchange, Israel would also release an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners.
5 Israelis protested in Tel Aviv, as they do every Saturday to demand the release of all hostage and an end to the war.
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Israel is expected to present new IDF withdrawal maps on Monday, Israeli TV reported, specifically focusing on redeployment along the Morag Corridor and perimeter around Gaza.
Meanwhile, calls to bring the war to a close reverberated in rallies across several Israel cities Saturday, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. A new poll aired on Israeli TV found that 74% of Irespondents back an agreement with Hamas that would release all of the remaining hostages in exchange for ending the war.
Just 8%, however, supported the Qatari deal that's currently on the table, which only sees half the Israeli hostages released.
5 Ceasefire talks to end the near two-year war are stalling.
AFP via Getty Images
Since last Sunday, Israeli and Hamas delegations have attended eight rounds of talks — the parties operate out of separate buildings — while stationed in Doha, according to the BBC.
'Missing the current momentum would be a serious failure,' the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Tel Aviv said in a statement expressing concern over the fragile state of negotiations.
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'Every day the war continues is an achievement for Hamas and a serious risk for our hostages and soldiers.'
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Fox News
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Israel, Hamas talks drag as aid group chair tells UN to stop acting like the ‘mafia'
Negotiations to secure a 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas seem to have hit an impasse amid hopes from top mediators, including President Donald Trump's Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, that a deal can be reached soon. There are several issues that remain major hurdles in securing lasting peace in the Gaza Strip and the return of all the hostages, according to multiple sources that Fox News Digital has spoken with. But one of the top sticking points has reportedly been the question of aid to the Palestinians and who exactly should be distributing the direly needed support. "This is a complex political environment right in the middle of a ceasefire negotiation," Chairman for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) Rev. Johnnie Moore told Fox News Digital. "I understand on the first night of the ceasefire negotiation, one of the primary issues that Hamas and their negotiators brought up was they wanted to see the elimination of the GHF. "Which ought to tell you something," he continued. "Hamas didn't want 70 million meals of food in the Gaza Strip for the people they allege they care about – this is absurd." Following Israel's near-three-month blockade on aid to the Gaza Strip, the GHF – a U.S. and Israeli-backed aid mechanism – was, in late May, permitted to initiate food delivery with the assistance of the Israel Defense Force (IDF) as a means to ensure food trucks were not overrun and ransacked by the Hamas terrorist group. The GHF, which has faced stiff backlash for its divergence from traditional humanitarian assistance methods, has argued that its convoys have been far better secured from Hamas attacks than United Nations' delivery trucks, and therefore ensured the aid has actually ended up in the hands of Palestinian civilians. Hamas has long used humanitarian assistance as a means of control over Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and as a tool for recruitment, going so far as to threaten starving civilians from accepting GHF food aid for their families in late May, telling them they "will pay the price, and we will take the necessary measures." The GHF has delivered some 70 million meals to between 800,000 and 1 million Palestinians, Moore confirmed. But reports have repeatedly surfaced claiming that Palestinians flocking to the four distribution sites have faced insurmountable dangers and on Friday the U.N. Human Rights Office said it believed nearly 800 people had been killed near aid sites. The office based in Geneva said it had recorded some 615 people were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites and 183 near other aid convoys, and according to spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani, the majority of these deaths were caused by "gunshot injuries." The U.N. did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's questions about whether it was the IDF or Hamas that was on the firing end of the gun, and whether these deaths occurred as a direct result of civilians seeking aid, chaotic eruptions that ensued outside of distribution centers, or if these were deaths occurred amid the continued war as civilians were in the process of heading to distributions centers. The IDF earlier this month said that following an investigation into civilian casualties reported at aid distribution sites, it had issued new orders to its South Command based on "lessons learned." The GHF this week announced a second phase in its aid delivery system that could lower the threats civilians face when seeking aid, by distributing supplies directly through community leaders across Gaza – meaning there could be less travel involved for civilians in need. But the GHF also fervently rejects the U.N. death toll figures and Moore maintains that no deaths have occurred on or near their distribution sites. "The U.N. is lying. They're just lying. They're taking statistics that originate from the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza, and they're sharing those statistics without any scrutiny at all," Moore told Fox News Digital. "We know Hamas has routinely lied about civilian death numbers from the beginning of this conflict. We know that Hamas doesn't distinguish between the death of Hamas militants and between civilians, and…we know that from the very beginning of the operation of GHF, Hamas made an intentional decision that the best way to see the end of GHF was to say that our sites were these death traps," he added. The U.N., on the other hand, maintains that it vets its own informants and obtains evidence through "various reliable sources, including medical, human rights and humanitarian organizations." But critics of the U.N. continue to question its trustworthiness following the apparent discovery of at least nine employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), who were reportedly involved in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, which saw the death of some 1,200 Israelis and the abductions of another 250 – 50 of whom remain hostage. Though Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, terminated those employees in October 2024, there remains open hostility between the U.N. agency and Israel, and now the GHF. Lazzarini, along with more than 200 other humanitarian organizations, has also personally called for the removal of the GHF from the Gaza Strip. Moore accused the U.N. of employing "mafia"-like tactics by ganging up on the aid program despite the success it has seen by supplying millions of meals. "We want to work with these organizations, but instead of engaging with us, what they've been doing is they've been working behind the scenes to sabotage us," Moore said. "There's no other way to describe it. The U.N. is behaving like a mafia." While the U.N. has not officially called for the removal of the GHF, it has criticized the organization's "militarized" approach to delivering aid, which is not viewed as acceptable by the Sphere Association, which sets the international standards for humanitarian aid. Both the GHF and the U.N. have said more aid is not only needed, but it would help eliminate the intense security risks affiliated with obtaining humanitarian supplies. "I have been very clear that the U.N. cannot do humanitarian work alone in Gaza, we need partners," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told Fox News Digital. "All that we ask is that these partners operate under the globally accepted humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence." Though both sides ultimately have the same goal, there appears to be an increasing impasse over how to provide stable aid for Palestinians who continue to live in extremely dire situations. "My mission, and the mission of GHF is really, really simple. It's just to feed people. And it should not be as controversial as it has been," Moore said. "My interest has always been in the in the 'day after'. We have to do both." "We have to plan for the 'day after', and we have to address the emergency, and it's time for the United Nations to stop playing political games," he continued. "We can solve the problems together. "But we have to make the decision to work together. GHF has already made that decision, and we've reiterated again and again and again that we want to work with the international community to reach these people. The decision is now theirs, and we'll be here waiting, our hand extended," Moore said.
Washington Post
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The outlines of a Gaza deal are obvious. But the suffering continues.
After 21 months of devastating warfare, Israel and the terrorist group Hamas appear tantalizingly, frustratingly close to a ceasefire that could see the release of some Israeli hostages and a flow of desperately needed food and medical supplies into Gaza. But close is not a deal. We've been here before, only to see hoped-for ceasefires fall apart.
New York Times
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Israeli Strike in Gaza City Kills at Least 11 People
At least 11 people were killed and dozens were wounded on Sunday afternoon in an Israeli airstrike on a crowded junction in Gaza City, officials in the enclave said. Gaza's Civil Defense, an emergency rescue group under the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, said that Israel's military had struck a crowded junction in city's downtown. The rescue group said in a post on social media that in addition to those killed, more than 50 people were wounded. The Israeli military did not immediately comment. Fadel Naim, a doctor at the nearby Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, said that the medical center had received a number of casualties from the attack. He added that Ahmad Qandil, also a doctor at the hospital, was among the dead, and that the toll was expected to rise given the condition of the wounded. The attack came as recent efforts to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas have yet to yield results. Israeli officials and President Trump had projected high optimism for an agreement ahead of a visit last week by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to Washington. But the talks appear to have stalled for the time being amid gaps between the two sides. Meanwhile, Israeli forces have continued to attack in Gaza, part of a 21-month campaign that began after the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed around 1,200 people. The Gaza Health Ministry said on Sunday that more than 100 people were killed in Gaza on Saturday alone. The ministry's casualty lists do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but they include thousands of children. While the Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the strike in Gaza City, it said on Sunday that its air force had attacked more than 150 targets across the enclave over the past 24 hours, including weapons storage facilities and sniper posts.
