Israel has accepted new Gaza ceasefire plan, says US
Israel has agreed to a new United States-proposed temporary ceasefire with Hamas, the White House announced on Thursday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Israel had “backed and supported” the new proposal.
Palestinian militant group Hamas says the proposal is “still under discussion”, but claimed that in its current form, it would only result in “the continuation of killing and famine” in Gaza, Al Jazeera reported.
It “does not respond to any of our people’s demands, foremost among which is stopping the war and famine,” Bassem Naim, a top Hamas official, told the Associated Press.
The details of the new proposal have not been made public, but The Times of Israel, citing a copy of the proposal that it reviewed, reported that Hamas would release 10 living Israeli hostages, along with the bodies of 18 others, during a 60-day ceasefire. In return, Israel would release 125 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences, 1,111 individuals detained since October 7 and hand over the bodies of 180 Palestinians.
The Israeli Defence Forces would also withdraw from certain areas, with precise details to be determined during the ongoing negotiations.
Israel’s military offensive against Gaza began in October 2023 after Hamas killed 1,200 persons during its incursion into southern Israel and took hostages. Israel has been carrying out unprecedented air and ground strikes on Gaza since then,...
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