Hamas has agreed to a ceasefire proposal put forth by the United States for Gaza, according to Al Jazeera\u2019s sources, but an American official rejected the claim and said the deal being discussed was \u201cunacceptable\u201d and \u201cdisappointing\u201d.<\/p>\n
Israeli officials also denied that the proposal was from the US, saying on Monday that no Israeli government could accept it, according to the Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n
The conflicting reports came as Israeli forces kept up their\u00a0relentless bombardment\u00a0of starving Palestinians in Gaza, and continued to severely restrict the entry of aid into the besieged enclave.<\/p>\n
Medical sources say at least 81 people, including many children, were\u00a0killed\u00a0in Israel\u2019s attacks on Monday alone.<\/p>\n
Al Jazeera\u2019s sources said Hamas and the US\u2019s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, agreed to the draft deal at a meeting in the Qatari capital, Doha. They said it includes a 60-day ceasefire, and the release of 10 living captives held in Gaza, over two stages.<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump would guarantee the terms of the deal and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. The agreement would also allow for the entry of humanitarian aid, without conditions, from day one, the sources said.<\/p>\n
Witkoff, however, rejected the notion that it was his proposal that Hamas had accepted, telling Reuters that what he had seen was \u201ccompletely unacceptable\u201d.<\/p>\n
A US source close to Witkoff also told Al Jazeera that Hamas\u2019s claims were \u201cinaccurate\u201d and what the Palestinian group was offering was \u201cdisappointing\u201d.<\/p>\n
New red lines<\/p>\n
Al Jazeera\u2019s Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Washington, DC, cited the official as saying that the proposal the US has put on the table is only a \u201ctemporary ceasefire agreement\u201d with Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat this would do is allow for half of the living captives, as well as half of the deceased, to be returned,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn turn, the White House believes this would lead towards a diplomatic path of discussions that could result in a permanent ceasefire. And this is the deal that the source tells Al Jazeera is what Hamas should take,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
There was no immediate comment from Hamas.<\/p>\n
In Israel, meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a recorded message on social media, promising to bring back the 58 Israeli captives remaining in Gaza, of whom some 20 are believed to still be alive.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we don\u2019t achieve it today, we will achieve it tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow. We are not giving up,\u201d Netanyahu said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe intend to bring them all back, the living and the dead,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The Israeli leader made no mention of the proposed deal.<\/p>\n
Al Jazeera\u2019s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from the Jordanian capital, Amman, said Netanyahu has long rejected Hamas\u2019s calls for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and pledged to continue the war until \u201ctotal victory\u201d is achieved against the Palestinian group.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Israeli premier has even added new red lines for what to him would bring an end of the war,\u201d Salhut said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat includes the return of the Israeli captives, the demilitarisation of Hamas [and] the exile of military and political leaders. And, also, the implementation of Trump\u2019s plan for Gaza. This is a plan that has been widely condemned as ethnic cleansing, and the White House even walked it back several months ago,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Netanyahu says that\u2019s what he wants if there is to be an end of the war.\u201d<\/p>\n
For its part, Hamas has said it is willing to free the remaining captives all at once in exchange for a permanent ceasefire. It has also said it is willing to cede control of the Gaza Strip to an interim government, as proposed in an Arab League-backed $53bn plan for the enclave\u2019s reconstruction.<\/p>\n
The group, however, has opposed any displacement of Palestinians and refused to lay down arms or exile its leaders from Gaza, describing the latter demands as a \u201cred line\u201d as long as Israel\u2019s occupation of Palestinian territory continues.<\/p>\n
\u2018All eyes on Doha\u2019<\/p>\n
In Gaza, Palestinians said they were desperate for any deal to bring an end to Israel\u2019s bombardment and blockade, which has left the enclave\u2019s entire population on the brink of famine.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll Palestinian eyes are on Doha,\u201d Al Jazeera\u2019s Hind Khoudary said from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince Israel resumed the war, Palestinians have been attacked in their homes, schools, makeshift tents and also in so-called safe humanitarian zones\u2026 They are also saying they are not able to even secure one meal for their families,\u201d Khoudary said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPalestinians here are saying they do not have any options left, and they are trying to survive the Israeli air strikes and the mass starvation that has been imposed on them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israel resumed the war on Gaza on March 18, two weeks after imposing a total blockade on the enclave.<\/p>\n
Health authorities in Gaza say at least 3,822 Palestinians have been killed in Israel\u2019s renewed offensive, and the confirmed overall death toll has now reached 53,977. Some 122,966 people have been wounded.<\/p>\n
Israel eased its blockade last week, saying it has let in some 170 aid trucks into Gaza, but humanitarian officials say they are nowhere near the amount needed to feed the enclave\u2019s two million people after 11 weeks of a total siege.<\/p>\n
Source:\u00a0Al Jazeera<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hamas has agreed to a ceasefire proposal put forth by the United States for Gaza, according to Al Jazeera\u2019s sources, but an American official rejected the claim and said the deal being discussed was \u201cunacceptable\u201d and \u201cdisappointing\u201d. Israeli officials also denied that the proposal was from the US, saying on Monday that no Israeli government<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":4341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-latest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4621"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4622,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4621\/revisions\/4622"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}