Hamas responds in 'positive spirit' to Gaza ceasefire proposal

SBS Australia

11 hours ago

Hamas says it has responded in "a positive spirit" to a United States-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal and was prepared to enter into talks on implementing the deal which envisages a release of hostages and negotiations on ending the conflict. Hamas wrote on its official website: "The Hamas movement has completed its internal consultations as well as discussions with Palestinian factions and forces regarding the latest proposal by the mediators to halt the aggression against our people in Gaza.
"The movement has delivered its response to the brotherly mediators, which was characterised by a positive spirit. Hamas is fully prepared, with all seriousness, to immediately enter a new round of negotiations on the mechanism for implementing this framework," the statement said.
In a sign of potential challenges still facing the sides, a Palestinian official of a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remain over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing to Egypt and clarity over a timetable of Israeli troop withdrawals. Trump earlier said that Israel had agreed "to the necessary conditions to finalise" a 60-day ceasefire, during which efforts would be made to end the US ally's war in the Palestinian enclave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to comment on Trump's announcement and in their public statements, the two sides remain far apart. Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the militant group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Netanyahu is due to meet Trump in Washington early next week. Trump has said he would be "very firm" with Netanyahu on the need for a speedy Gaza ceasefire, while noting that the Israeli leader wants one as well.
"We hope it's going to happen. And we're looking forward to it happening sometime next week," he told reporters earlier this week. "We want to get the hostages out."
Israeli attacks kill at least 138 Palestinians overnight Israeli attacks have killed at least 138 Palestinians in Gaza over the past 24 hours, local health officials said. Health officials at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, said the Israeli military had carried out an airstrike on a tent encampment west of the city around 2 am local time, killing 15 Palestinians displaced by nearly two years of war. The Israeli military said troops operating in the Khan Younis area had eliminated militants, confiscated weapons and dismantled Hamas outposts in the last 24 hours, while striking 100 targets across Gaza, including military structures, weapons storage facilities and launchers. Palestinians gathered to perform funeral prayers before burying those killed overnight. The conflict in Gaza escalated when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent military assault has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry.