Hamas said Friday that amendments it proposed to the most recent U.S. plan for a cease-fire in Gaza “have been met with a positive response by the mediators,” however “the official Israeli position has not yet become clear.”
Cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas appear to be reviving after stalling for weeks. U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators are seeking to overcome the gap that has repeatedly thwarted a deal over the past months. Hamas wants an agreement that ensures Israeli troops fully leave Gaza and that the war ends, while Israel says it cannot halt the war before the Palestinian militant group is eliminated.
“The date of the negotiations has not yet been set and this depends on the response of (Israel),” Hamas spokesperson Jihad Taha said.
The nearly nine-month war in Gaza has caused massive devastation across the besieged territory and displaced most of its 2.3 million people, often multiple times. Israeli restrictions, the ongoing fighting and the breakdown of law and order have curtailed humanitarian aid efforts, causing widespread hunger and sparking fears of famine. The top U.N. court has concluded there is a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza — a charge Israel strongly denies.
Israel launched the war in Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250.
Since then, Israeli ground offensives and bombardments have killed more than 38,000 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.
Currently:
— Seven Palestinians killed in the West Bank as Israel conducts military operation in the Jenin area.
— Israel weighs Hamas’ latest response to Gaza cease-fire proposal as diplomatic efforts are revived.
— Iran holds runoff presidential vote pitting hard-liner against reformist after record low turnout.
— Fires have become the most visible sign of the conflict heating up on the Lebanon-Israel border.
— Pro-Palestinian protesters breach security at Australia’s Parliament House to unfurl banners
— Follow news agencies’s coverage of the war in Gaza at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Here’s the latest:
Beirut — A spokesperson for Hamas said Friday that the group’s proposed amendments to the most recent U.S. proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza “have been met with a positive response by the mediators” but “the official Israeli position has not yet become clear.”
“The date of the negotiations has not yet been set and this depends on the response of (Israel),” Hamas spokesperson Jihad Taha said. He said that the position of Hamas on the proposal is “unified” between the group’s military leadership in Gaza and its political leadership outside, without elaborating.
