The negotiations on a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas have progressed. But something happened on Wednesday that has awakened a new wave of hope. Via mediators from Egypt and Qatar, Hamas handed over a new proposal for a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages. The proposal is now being “evaluated” by Israel, which will come up with an answer. This is what the office of the President of Israel writes in a joint statement with Israel’s intelligence service Mossad. Israeli military vehicles drove between the piles of rubble in Gaza on Wednesday. Photo: Amir Cohen / Reuters In the past, Hamas’s ceasefire proposal has been rejected by Israel. The fact that this has not yet happened gives hope that one can now see results from the negotiations. Orders mass evacuation The details of the ceasefire proposal are not known. But Hamas wants Israeli forces to withdraw from Gaza, and for Israeli hostages in Gaza to be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. In the past, exchanges have taken place in connection with ceasefires. Israel estimates that around 120 Israeli hostages are still trapped in Gaza. It is feared that many of these have been killed. At the same time, Israel is carrying out attacks in several places in Gaza, including in the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis in the South. On Wednesday, Israel bombed targets next to a UN-run school housing refugees in Khan Younis. People fled after an Israeli bomb hit close to a school housing refugees in Khan Younis on Wednesday. Photo: Mohammed Salem / Reuters Israel has also announced a major attack against the town of Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip. Palestinians who have been displaced from other places in Gaza have, among other things, sought refuge here. On Monday, people were ordered to leave the area. It affects around 250,000 Palestinians, according to the UN aid organization for Palestinian refugees. – Spoiled The evacuation order has led to new challenges for emergency relief work. Andrea De Domenico, head of the UN Office for Emergency Relief (OCHA)’s work in the Palestinian territories, says that the last few weeks have been characterized by attempts to negotiate new solutions with Israel. Israel ordered another mass evacuation from Khan Younis on Monday. Here, people fled with their belongings on Tuesday. Photo: Mohammed Salem / Reuters Now these are spoiled, he told reporters on Wednesday. – We have worked with various solutions that we have tried and tested, improved and occasionally not succeeded. Now, with this evacuation order, this has, once again, been wiped out, he said. Support from the military It is now more than a month since the President of the United States presented his three-part peace plan for Gaza. So far, the results have been awaited. People killed since 7 October 2023 Close Sources: Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza / UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) / Israeli authorities Disclaimer: Figures from Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, and may periodically be late. Figures from Israeli authorities show that around 1,200 civilians and soldiers were killed in connection with the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. 287 Israeli soldiers have been killed since October 27, 2023. None of the figures have been confirmed by independent sources. The Palestinian figures are updated daily. Figures from Israel are updated at least twice a week. Close More information about the numbers It has been unclear whether Hamas and Israel were for or against the proposal: According to Biden, Israel supported the plan, but Israel’s government never officially confirmed this. Hamas, for its part, said it was positive about the plan, but that it had suggestions for changes. Israel has claimed that these changes were to be considered a rejection of the plan, according to Reuters. Senior sources in the Israeli military have told The New York Times that they want a ceasefire, even if it leaves Hamas in power in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly promised to wipe out Hamas. – The military fully supports an agreement on the hostages and a ceasefire, said Israel’s former national security adviser Eyal Hulata to the American newspaper. Fears Hezbollah Netanyahu has previously been criticized for not having a plan for what he wants to achieve in Gaza. In June, Minister Benny Ganz left Netanyahu’s war cabinet in protest. Netanyahu then dissolved the war cabinet. The New York Times writes that Israeli forces must continue to fight in areas of Gaza where they actually claim to have already defeated Hamas because there is no one who can go in and govern these areas. The military is also afraid that the longer the war in Gaza continues, the greater the risk that a full-scale war will break out with Hamas’ ally Hezbollah, which borders Israel’s neighboring country Lebanon. The conflict with the armed group in the south of Lebanon has grown as the Gaza war has lasted. Earlier this week, a high-ranking Hezbollah military leader was killed in an Israeli attack. In response, Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets at Israel. Interested in foreign affairs? Listen to the foreign affairs editor’s podcast here: Published 04.07.2024, at 09.07
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Hamas has put forward a new proposal for a ceasefire – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
