Hamas responds to US plan for Gaza ceasefire, repeats call for end of war
CNN
Hamas has on Saturday said that it has responded to a ceasefire plan put forward by President Trump’s envoy on Gaza, repeating its call for an end to the war.
Hamas on Saturday said that it has responded to a ceasefire plan put forward by President Trump’s envoy on Gaza, repeating its call for an end to the war. In a statement, Hamas said that its “proposal” to the mediators – Qatar and Egypt — “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.” “As part of this agreement, ten living Israeli prisoners held by the resistance will be released, in addition to the return of eighteen bodies, in exchange for an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners,” the statement said. It comes after a senior Hamas official told CNN earlier this week that the group had sent back a three-pronged counterproposal requesting US assurances that the negotiations over a permanent ceasefire will continue and the fighting will not resume after the pause; that humanitarian assistance be carried out through the United Nations; and that the IDF pull back to the positions that they held on March 2. An Israeli official told CNN on Saturday that they saw the militant group’s latest response as having “effectively rejected the latest Witkoff proposal and put forward a new offer with its own conditions.” The US-backed and Israel-approved proposal seen by CNN on Friday includes Hamas releasing 10 Israeli hostages and 18 deceased hostages in exchange for 125 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and 1,111 Gazans detained since the war began.
Demonstrations have spread across Iran in a wave of nationwide unrest over crippling economic conditions. Follow for live updates.
Lebanon on Thursday announced that it has completed the first phase of its plan to disarm Hezbollah and other militant groups in the country’s south, but Israel said the progress was “far from sufficient” amid renewed concerns that the conflict could ramp back up.
Saudi Arabia has publicly accused the United Arab Emirates – a fellow Gulf Arab state and former partner in the Yemen war – of undermining its national security, an unusually blunt charge that exposes a rift long kept behind closed doors.
Former Israeli hostage Romi Gonen said she endured repeated sexual assault, harassment and intimidation during her 471 days of Hamas captivity, speaking publicly for the first time about her experience and her fear of becoming a “sex slave” in Gaza.
A decade after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates led a joint military campaign to curb Iran’s influence in Yemen, the two allies now find themselves pitted against each other there.
People protesting deteriorating economic conditions in Iran took to the streets across several of the country’s provinces over the past day, with some demonstrations turning deadly after clashes with police.