Egypt reveals new Gaza ceasefire proposals
Egyptian officials said yesterday that mediators have presented a new ceasefire proposal to Hamas and Israel that would include a six-week pause in fighting and a swap of 40 Hamas-held hostages for at least 700 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
It came a day after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu escalated his pledge to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which is filled with around 1.4 million Palestinians – most of whom are displaced from other parts of the Gaza Strip.
“It will happen. There is a date,” Mr Netanyahu said in a video statement on Monday, without elaborating.
The United States, Israel’s closest ally, has said a ground operation into Rafah would be a mistake and has demanded to see a credible plan to protect civilians.
As Mr Netanyahu spoke, Israeli negotiators were in Cairo discussing the international efforts to broker a ceasefire deal with the Palestinian militant group Hamas which produced yesterday’s statement by Egypt.
Israeli troops withdrew on Sunday from Khan Younis, another city in southern Gaza, ending a key phase of the war.
Defence officials say they are regrouping ahead of a push into Rafah. Palestinians who visited Khan Younis on Monday said the city is now unlivable, offering them little immediate chance to return. Many have been sheltering in Rafah.
The Palestinian death toll from the war has passed 33,200, with nearly 76,000 wounded, Gaza’s health ministry said.
The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its tally, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.
The war began on October 7 when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage. Israel says more than 130 hostages remain in Gaza, with about a quarter of those believed dead.
Meanwhile, Turkey and Israel yesterday announced trade barriers on each other as relations deteriorated further amid the war in Gaza.
Turkey, a staunch critic of Israel’s military actions in the territory, announced that it was restricting exports of 54 types of products to Israel with immediate effect. They include aluminum, steel, construction products, jet fuel and chemical fertilizers.
In response, Israel said it was preparing a ban on products from Turkey.
The announcements came a day after Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan said Israel had barred Turkish military cargo planes from joining an operation to airdrop humanitarian aid to Gaza and vowed to respond with a series of measures against Israel until it declares a ceasefire and allows aid to flow in without interruptions.
“There is no excuse for Israel to block our attempt to deliver aid by air to starving people of Gaza,” Mr Fidan said.
Turkish 0resident Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, which suffered major setbacks in local elections last month, is faced with intense pressure at home to halt trade with Israel.