Hamas said on Wednesday it had sent mediators new “ideas” to end the war in the Gaza Strip, ravaged by nearly nine months of conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement.
Israel confirmed that it was “evaluating” Hamas’ “comments” on a deal to release hostages held in Gaza and would respond to mediators, in a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
International pressure
Both sides are under increasing international pressure to reach a ceasefire as the death toll from the war mounts and living conditions for Palestinians in Gaza deteriorate by the day.
Hamas said it had “exchanged some ideas with the mediating brothers with the aim of ending the aggression against (its) Palestinian people.”
Recently, US President Joe Biden raised a proposed deal, which he presented as Israeli, involving a ceasefire and the release of all hostages.
Hamas, for its part, insists that any agreement must include a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip.
The war in the Gaza Strip was triggered by a Hamas attack on October 7 in Israel that killed 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli data. During the attack, 251 people were kidnapped, 116 of whom are still being held in Gaza, of whom 42 died, according to the army.
In response, Israel launched an offensive on Gaza that has so far killed 37,925 people, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas-led Gaza government’s health ministry.
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