KEY POINTS
- Hamas agrees to a US-proposed 70-day ceasefire and partial Israeli withdrawal
- Deal includes the release of 10 Israeli hostages and a number of Palestinian prisoners
- At least 50 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes on a Gaza school and home on Monday
- Israel claims the school was used by Hamas as a command centre but provided no evidence
- Humanitarian crisis deepens with 90% of Gaza’s population displaced
News Desk
GAZA CITY, Palestine: A Palestinian official close to Hamas said on Monday that the group has agreed to a ceasefire proposal by US special envoy Steve Witkoff, according to Reuters.
The announcement came as at least 50 more people were killed in two Israeli airstrikes targeting a school sheltering displaced Palestinians and a residential home in Gaza City and Jabalia, northern Gaza, on Monday morning.
The Palestinian source familiar with negotiations aimed at securing a truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza said Monday that a new proposal involved the release of 10 hostages, a 70-day ceasefire and a partial Israeli withdrawal, AFP reported.
The outline of the new potential deal comes as Israel ramps up its offensive in the Palestinian territory, and follows previous rounds of talks that have failed to reach a breakthrough ever since a two-month ceasefire fell apart in mid-March.
“The new proposal, which is considered a development of the path and vision of US envoy Steve Witkoff, includes the release of 10 living Israeli hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a 70-day truce, a partial withdrawal from the Gaza Strip (and) the release of a number of Palestinian prisoners,” the source close to negotiations told AFP.
The source added that mediators presented the proposal “over the past few days”, without specifying whether it came from the United States, Egypt or Qatar, all of which have been involved in the ceasefire talks throughout the conflict.
The proposal would involve the release of “five living Israeli hostages during the first week of the agreement’s implementation, and five others before the end of the truce period”.
A second Palestinian source familiar with the talks told AFP that “Israel and Hamas will study the proposal and both sides will respond to the mediators”.
Israel said last week that it was recalling its senior Gaza hostage negotiators from Doha “for consultation”, while leaving some of its team in the Qatari capital.
Israeli strikes on Gaza Strip kill over 50
Meanwhile, at least 50 more people were killed in two Israeli airstrikes targeting a school sheltering displaced Palestinians and a home in Gaza City and Jabalia, northern Gaza, on Monday morning.
The Israeli military said its air force has struck more than 200 targets across the Gaza Strip over the past two days.
A medical source, as cited by Anadolu news agency, said that the death toll from the Israeli airstrike on the Fahmi Al-Jirjawi school, which shelters displaced people, in Gaza City’s al-Daraj neighbourhood has risen to 30.
A fire swept through the tents following the Israeli bombing, said Al-Aqsa TV and other local sources.
Eyewitness videos circulated online, showing charred bodies, many of them children, and others crying out as flames consumed their surroundings.
“Charred corpses and the screams of displaced people engulfed in flames were seen and heard from the site,” one report said.
In a statement, the Israeli army confirmed the strike, claiming that Hamas has turned the shelter into a “command and control centre.” It, however, did not provide any proof to support its claim.
Meanwhile, in another deadly airstrike, 19 more people were killed and others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a home in Jabalia town, northern Gaza, according to a medical source.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that the Israeli airstrike “completely destroyed” a multi-story building, with dozens of displaced people residing inside.
The intensified violence, after a nearly three-month blockade of humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip, has sharpened international condemnation of Israel.
World leaders call for end to Gaza war
World leaders meeting in Madrid at the weekend called for an end to the “inhumane” and “senseless” war, while humanitarian organisations said the trickle of resumed aid is not nearly enough to staunch the hunger and health crises.
Israeli military attacks since the start of the war in October 2023 have killed at least 53,977 Palestinians and wounded 122,966 others, according to the latest update by Gaza’s Health Ministry, Al Jazeera reported.
Gaza’s health ministry said on Sunday that at least 3,785 people had been killed in the territory since a ceasefire collapsed on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,939, mostly civilians, according to AFP.
The ministry added that 38 bodies and 169 injured arrived at Gaza hospitals in the past 24-hour reporting period.
Israeli military operations have displaced around 90% of Gaza’s estimated 2 million residents, created a severe hunger crisis, and caused widespread destruction across the territory.
