Hamas says studying new Israeli truce proposal

Hamas said it was studying the latest Israeli counterproposal regarding a potential ceasefire in Gaza today, a day after media reports said a delegation from mediator Egypt arrived in Israel in a bid to jump-start stalled negotiations.

The signs of fresh truce talks came alongside at least three Israeli air strikes during the night in Rafah, southernmost Gaza, according to an AFP correspondent.

Rafah is crowded with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by nearly seven months of war between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas. Strikes in Rafah and elsewhere killed more than a dozen people overnight, hospital officials said.

“Today, the Hamas movement received the official Zionist occupation response to the movement’s position, which was delivered to the Egyptian and Qatari mediators on April 13,” Khalil al-Hayya, deputy head of Hamas’s political arm in Gaza, said in a statement.

“The movement will study this proposal, and upon completion of its study, it will submit its response.”

Hamas has previously insisted on a permanent ceasefire, something rejected by Israel.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been unsuccessfully trying to seal a new truce deal in Gaza ever since a one-week halt to the fighting in November saw 80 Israeli hostages exchanged for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

A delegation from Egypt arrived in Israel on Friday hoping to revive the truce negotiations, Israeli and Egyptian media reported.

There has been “noticeable progress in bringing the views of the Egyptian and Israeli delegations closer”, said Al-Qahera News, which is linked to Egyptian state intelligence services.

In early April, Hamas had said it was studying a proposal, after talks in Cairo, and Al-Qahera reported progress. Days later Israel and Hamas accused each other of undermining negotiations.

As talks drag on, dozens of people in Gaza die every day, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Since the Israeli offensive began on October 7, at least 34,356 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Gaza, according to the health ministry.

The war is on the agenda for an international summit in Saudi Arabia.

The World Economic Forum special meeting, scheduled to begin in Riyadh today, will include a Gaza-focused session on Monday set to feature newly appointed Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Sigrid Kaag, the United Nations aid coordinator for the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s military today said its aircraft had hit more than 25 militant targets over the previous day.

Israel’s military offensive has turned vast swathes of Gaza into rubble, creating 37 million tonnes of debris that will take years to clear away, according to the UN Mine Action Service.

It said unexploded ordnance would complicate that work.

Meanwhile, a British ship to house hundreds of US troops building a jetty to boost aid deliveries to Gaza has set sail from Cyprus, a UK defence source said today.

Royal Navy support ship Cardigan Bay will assist the international effort to construct the temporary floating pier, which is set to be completed early next month, the Pentagon said.

The pier will initially facilitate the delivery of 90 truckloads of international aid a day into Gaza, rising to up to 150 truckloads once fully operational, according to US estimates.

The aid will be pre-screened in Cyprus and delivered directly to Gaza via the pier off the coast or via Ashdod Port, which Israel has said it will open to aid vessels.

On Friday the European Union said it was giving an extra $73 million for food, water and other aid to Palestinians in Gaza “in light of the continued deterioration of the severe humanitarian crisis”.

The World Food Programme has warned famine is “a real and dangerous threat”.

The Gaza war has led to increased violence between Israel and Iran’s proxies and allies, in particular the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah along the border with Lebanon.

Three people were killed today in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, including two members of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed movement and official media said.

In two separate statements, Hezbollah mourned the deaths of two fighters from the villages of Kafr Kila and Khiam.

On Friday another pro-Hamas Lebanese militant group, Jamaa Islamiya, said an Israeli strike in eastern Lebanon had killed two of its senior commanders.

Off Yemen, a ship was damaged when targeted twice with multiple missiles Friday, in the latest attack on international shipping in the Red Sea to be claimed by Houthi rebels.

Near Tel Aviv, an 18-year-old woman was seriously wounded in a stabbing attack and the assailant was killed at the scene, said paramedics and police.

After addressing journalists there, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was among four people who received “light” injuries in a car crash, police said.

A dark-coloured sedan ended up on its roof in a pedestrian crossing, near a white car whose engine compartment was heavily damaged.