Key Points
- Israel has agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire proposal for Gaza, according to the White House.
- Hamas is studying the plan with the stated goal of protecting Palestinian interests and ending Israeli aggression.
- The initial phase reportedly includes a 60-day ceasefire and increased humanitarian aid via UN-run operations.
Israel has agreed to a US ceasefire proposal for Gaza, the White House said, and Hamas said it was reviewing it as a US-backed system for distributing food aid in the shattered enclave expanded.
Israeli media reported earlier that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the families of hostages held in Gaza that Israel had accepted a deal presented by US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
Netanyahu’s office did not confirm the reports, but White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters in Washington that Israel had signed off on the proposal.
She did not detail its contents. But the New York Times quoted an Israeli official familiar with the proposal as saying the initial phase would include a 60-day ceasefire and humanitarian aid flowing through UN-run operations.
The group Hamas, which controls Gaza, “is studying the amended Witkoff proposal with a high sense of responsibility, stemming from interest to achieve the interests of our people and ensure an end to the aggression,” a Hamas official told Reuters.
Israel’s response “in essence means the continuation of killing and famine,” Bassem Naim, a Hamas political bureau member, told multiple outlets on Thursday.
Witkoff told reporters on Wednesday that Washington was close to “sending out a new term sheet” about a ceasefire to the two sides in the conflict that has raged since October 2023.
“I have some very good feelings about getting to a long-term resolution, temporary ceasefire and a long-term resolution, a peaceful resolution, of that conflict,” Witkoff said then.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported Thursday that the Israeli army has killed 3,986 Palestinians and wounded 11,451 others since breaking the last ceasefire in March.
Israel has insisted that Hamas disarm completely and be dismantled as a military and governing force and that all the 58 hostages still held in Gaza must be returned before it will agree to end the war.
Hamas has rejected the demand to give up its weapons and says Israel must pull its troops out of Gaza and commit to ending the war.
Controversial humanitarian aid efforts
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private group backed by the United States and endorsed by Israel, expanded its aid distribution to a third site on Thursday.
Heavily criticised by the United Nations and other aid groups as inadequate and flawed, the group’s operation began this week in Gaza, where the UN has said 2 million people are at risk of famine after Israel’s 11-week blockade on aid entering the enclave.
The aid launch was marred by tumultuous scenes on Tuesday when thousands of Palestinians rushed distribution points and forced private security contractors to retreat.
The UN Human Rights Office said it believes 47 people were injured in the havoc as Israeli soldiers reportedly opened fire on the desperate crowds with the Gaza Health Ministry reporting at least one person was killed by the gunfire.
The Israeli military claimed soldiers fired warning shots into the air and said they are checking reports of civilian casualties.
