Gaza ceasefire hopes
Hamas given truce offer but Israeli PM still talking war
GAZA STRIP: Hamas says it is studying a proposal for a truce and hostage-prisoner swap after talks in Cairo, as Israel’s defence minister said it was the right time for a deal, six months into the Gaza war.
Israel is under growing international pressure to agree to a ceasefire, including from its top ally and arms supplier the US, and faces mounting calls to refrain from a threatened offensive against the teeming southern Gaza city of Rafah.
A Hamas source close to the negotiations said the group was reviewing a proposal that would see a six-week truce and
Israeli women and child hostages from its October 7 attacks freed in exchange for up to 900 Palestinian prisoners.
The source, asking for anonymity, said the first phase would also involve the return of displaced Palestinian civilians to northern Gaza, and the delivery of 400 to 500 trucks of food aid daily to the territory, where the UN has warned of imminent famine.
Amid the negotiations, however, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a date had been set for sending troops into Gaza’s southern Rafah city.
“It will happen – there is a date,” Mr Netanyahu said in a video statement which did not specify the timing. He insists “victory” over Hamas militants in Gaza requires troops to go into Rafah, where around 1.5 million homeless people have sought shelter.
The prospect of a Rafah invasion has alarmed world leaders and humanitarians. After Mr Netanyahu’s comment, the US State Department reiterated that an invasion would have “an enormously harmful effect” on civilians in Gaza and, ultimately, Israel’s own security.
The leaders of France, Egypt and Jordan warned Israel the Rafah offensive would have “dangerous consequences” and urged an immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas.
Despite the threats and fighting, Mr Netanyahu sent negotiators to truce talks that started in Cairo on Sunday, joined by US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said negotiators gave Hamas a proposal for a ceasefire deal and “it’s going to be up to Hamas”.
Egypt’s state media reported “significant progress being made on several contentious points”, citing an unnamed high-ranking Egyptian source.
The Qatari and Hamas delegations left Cairo and were expected to return “within two days to finalise the terms of the agreement”, it said, while the US and Israeli teams were also planning consultations.