Hamas said on Saturday it was studying a new Israeli ceasefire proposal in Gaza, as Egypt stepped up efforts to reach a deal to end the months-long war and prevent a planned Israeli ground attack on the southern city of Rafah.
Khalil Al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, did not provide details of the Israeli offer, but said he responded to the Hamas proposal two weeks ago. Negotiations earlier this month focused on a proposed six-week ceasefire and the release of 40 civilian and sick hostages in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
A separate Hamas statement said the leaders of the three main armed groups active in Gaza discussed attempts to end the war. He did not mention the Israeli proposal.
The statements came hours after an Egyptian delegation completed a visit to Israel where it discussed a "new vision" for a long-term ceasefire in Gaza, according to an Egyptian official who spoke expressed on condition of anonymity to freely discuss the development of the situation.
It was not immediately clear whether the Israeli proposal was directly related to the visit.
Discussions between Egyptian and Israeli officials focused on the first phase of the plan, which will include a limited exchange of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, and the return of large numbers of displaced Palestinians to their homes in the north of Gaza “with minimal restrictions. » said the Egyptian official.
The official said mediators were working to reach a compromise that meets most of the main demands of both sides, which could pave the way for continued negotiations to reach a deal to end the war.
Hamas said it would not give up its demand for a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israel rejected both proposals and said it would continue military operations until Hamas is defeated and maintain a security presence in Gaza.
There is growing international pressure on Hamas and Israel to reach a ceasefire agreement and avoid an Israeli attack on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million residents have sought refuge.
Israel has insisted for months that it is planning a ground attack on Rafah, on the border with Egypt, where it says many Hamas militants are still there, despite calls for restraint, particularly from the United States, Israel's most powerful ally.
Egypt has warned that the attack on Rafah could have "catastrophic consequences" on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where famine is feared, as well as regional peace and security.
The Israeli army has mobilized dozens of tanks and armored vehicles in southern Israel near Rafah and bombarded sites in the city in almost daily airstrikes.
Early Saturday, an airstrike hit a house in the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah, killing a man, his wife and their children, aged 12, 10 and 8, according to records from the Abu Youssef Hospital morgue al-Najjar. A neighbor's 4-month-old daughter was also killed.
Ahmed Omar and other neighbors rushed after the 1:30 a.m. strike to search for survivors, but he said they only found bodies and body parts.
“It’s a tragedy,” he said.
An Israeli airstrike later Saturday on a building in Rafah killed seven people, including six members of the Ashour family, according to the morgue.
Five people were killed overnight in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip when an Israeli raid hit a house, according to officials at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
Elsewhere, the Israeli military said Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians at a checkpoint in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. She added that the gunmen opened fire on forces stationed at the Salem checkpoint, near the town of Jenin.
Violence has erupted in the West Bank since the war. The Ramallah Health Ministry says 491 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire.
Washington criticizes Israeli policy in the West Bank. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is expected to arrive in Israel on Tuesday, determined that a military unit there committed human rights abuses before the Gaza war.
But Blinken said in an undated letter adressed to U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, obtained Friday by The Associated Press, that he was delaying a decision to withhold unity aid to give Israel more time to repair the wrongs. Blinken stressed that overall US military support for Israeli defense would not be affected.
The United States is also building a dock to deliver aid to Gaza through a new port. The Israeli army confirmed on Saturday that work would begin in early May.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that the British government was considering deploying forces to drive trucks to transport the aid to the beach, citing unidentified government sources. British officials declined to comment.
Another relief operation, a flotilla of three ships from Turkey, was prevented from sailing, organizers said.
Student protests against the war and its impact on Palestinians are growing on college campuses across the United States, while demonstrations continue in several countries.
Hamas started the war by attacking southern Israel on October 7, where militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 250 hostages. Israel says militants still hold around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.
On Saturday, Hamas released a video showing hostages Keith Siegel and Omri Miran. It is not known exactly when the video was filmed. Both highlighted the Jewish holiday of Passover, which began Monday. They called on the Israeli government to reach an agreement with Hamas. They certainly spoke under duress.
More than 34,000 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli attack, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, about two-thirds of them children and women. Their number does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. The ministry said 32 people killed were transferred to local hospitals in the past 24 hours.
Israel blames Hamas for civilian losses and accuses it of being present in residential areas. Israel has announced the death of at least 260 soldiers since the start of ground operations.