Hamas has said it responded to a US ceasefire proposal presented to mediators, saying it would release 10 living hostages and 18 bodies in return for Israel’s release of a number of Palestinian prisoners.
But US president Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff rejected Hamas’s response as “totally unacceptable”.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas is continuing to refuse the US proposal for a Gaza ceasefire. His defence forces will continue its action for the return of hostages and to defeat Hamas, he said.
The earlier Hamas statement said: “This proposal aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire, a comprehensive withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and ensure the flow of aid to our people and our families in the Gaza Strip.”
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It said its response came “after conducting a round of national consultations”.
Deep differences between Hamas and Israel have stymied previous attempts to restore a ceasefire that broke down in March.
Israel has insisted that Hamas must disarm completely, be dismantled as a military and governing force and return all 58 hostages still held in Gaza 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.
The White House ceasefire proposals include a 60-day truce and the exchange of 28 of the 58 hostages still held in Gaza for more than 1,200 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, along with the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.
Meanwhile, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip blocked and emptied dozens of lorries, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said, as desperation mounts following Israel’s months-long blockade and air strikes.
The WFP said that 77 trucks carrying aid, mostly flour, were stopped by hungry people who took the food before the vehicles were able to reach their destination.
A nearly three-month Israeli blockade on Gaza has pushed the population to the brink of famine.
While the pressure slightly eased in recent days as Israel allowed some aid to enter, organisations said there still is not nearly enough food getting in.
On Saturday, the Israeli military, which relaunched its air and ground campaign in March following a two-month truce, said it was continuing to hit targets in Gaza, including sniper posts, and had killed what it said was the head of a Hamas weapons manufacturing site.
The campaign has cleared large areas along the boundaries of the Gaza Strip, squeezing the population of more than two million into an ever-narrower section along the coast and around the southern city of Khan Younis.
The WFP said the fear of starvation in Gaza is high despite the food aid that is entering.
The United Nations said earlier this month that Israeli authorities have forced them to use unsecured routes within areas controlled by the Israeli military in the eastern areas of Rafah and Khan Younis, where armed gangs are active.
The UN said it had been unable to get enough aid in because of fighting.
The Gaza health ministry said that at least 60 people were killed by Israeli strikes in the last 24 hours.
The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 250 hostages.
Of those taken captive, 58 remain in Gaza but Israel believes 35 are dead, and Mr Netanyahu has said there are “doubts” about the fate of several others.
Israeli strikes have killed more than 54,000 Gaza residents, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry. – AP/ Reuters
