HAMAS negotiators in Cairo have agreed a new proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, which calls for an initial 60-day truce and hostage release in two batches.
‘The proposal is a framework agreement to launch negotiations on a permanent ceasefire,’ an official said, adding: ‘Hamas will hold internal consultations among its leadership’ and with leaders of other Palestinian factions to review the mediators’ proposals.
Hamas had said last week that a senior delegation was in the Egyptian capital for talks to secure a ceasefire.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty visited the Rafah border crossing with Gaza on Monday.
‘As we speak now, there are Palestinian and Qatari delegations present on Egyptian soil working to intensify efforts to put an end to the systematic killing and starvation,’ the Egyptian top diplomat said.
Last week, Abdelatty had said that Egypt was working with fellow mediators Qatar and the United States to broker a 60-day truce that would secure ‘the release of some hostages and some Palestinian detainees and the flow of humanitarian and medical assistance to Gaza without restrictions.’
Amnesty International yesterday accused Israel of enacting a ‘deliberate policy’ of starvation in Gaza.
In a report quoting displaced Palestinians and medical staff who have treated malnourished children, Amnesty accused Israel of ‘systematically destroying the health, wellbeing and social fabric of Palestinian life’.
‘It is the intended outcome of plans and policies that Israel has designed and implemented, over the past 22 months, to deliberately inflict on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction – which is part and parcel of Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,’ Amnesty said.
- The Israeli regime’s economy shrank 3.5% in the April-June quarter as its recent aggression against Iran forced business closures and dampened consumer spending, exports, and investment, according to preliminary data from the Central Bureau of Statistics.
This contraction is the first quarterly drop since late 2023, when the economy plummeted 20.8% as the genocide in Gaza took a heavy toll on consumer spending, trade, and
investment.
