HAMAS CEASEFIRE PROPOSAL

THE Palestinian militant group Hamas has submitted a ceasefire proposal to end the four-month conflict in Gaza.

Israel said it was studying the proposal.

A text of the proposal seen by Reuters said it aimed to end military operations with a sustained de-escalation, exchange hostages and prisoners, end an Israeli blockade of Gaza, allow displaced residents to return home and ramp up aid supplies.

These are the details:

First 45 Days:

Temporary halt to military operations, end of aerial reconnaissance, repositioning of Israeli forces far outside populated areas in the entire Gaza Strip.

Release of Israeli civilian women and children aged 19 or under held hostage in Gaza, as well as all elderly and sick hostages.

Release of Palestinian women, children, elderly and sick from Israeli jails.

Agreement on release of 1 500 Palestinian prisoners, with Hamas to nominate 500 of them who have been sentenced to long or life sentences.

Increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza, including the north, and return of displaced people to their home districts.

Start rebuilding hospitals, homes and other facilities. UN agencies to provide services and establish shelter camps for the population.

Second 45 Days:

Discussions are to be completed before the start of the second phase on conditions to maintain the ceasefire.

Release of all Israeli civilian and military men being held hostage in exchange for other Palestinian prisoners.

Continuation of humanitarian measures in Gaza.

Israeli forces to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

Comprehensive reconstruction to begin and blockade of Gaza to end.

Third 45 Days:

Exchange of bodies and remains from both sides after their identification.

Continuation of humanitarian measures in Gaza that were agreed upon in earlier phases. | Reuters

UN SECRETARY-GENERAL António Guterres warned yesterday that the world is entering “an age of chaos” with a deeply divided Security Council unable to address critical issues such as the Israel-Hamas war.

With the war in Gaza entering its fifth month yesterday, Guterres warned that if the Israeli armed forces press on into the southern city of Rafah, it would “exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences”.

Israeli forces, in their campaign to destroy Hamas after its unprecedented attack on October 7, have relentlessly bombed the Gaza Strip and carried out a ground invasion, displacing over a