Israel accepts a US proposal for a temporary Gaza ceasefire, Hamas still evaluating

Israel has accepted a new US proposal for a temporary ceasefire with Hamas, the White House says.

The fresh signs of progress towards a temporary truce came after US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, expressed optimism earlier this week about brokering an agreement to halt the Israel-Hamas war and return more of the hostages captured in the attack that ignited it.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Israel “backed and supported” the new proposal.

She added that Hamas continues to evaluate the proposal.

The new proposal was intended to return surviving as well as dead hostages still being held in Gaza in exchange for an extended truce in fighting.

Hamas has said it had agreed with Mr Witkoff on a “general framework” of an agreement that would lead to a lasting ceasefire, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, an influx of aid, and a transfer of power from the militant group to a politically independent committee of Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to end the war until all the hostages are released and Hamas is either destroyed or disarmed and sent into exile.

He has said Israel will control Gaza indefinitely and facilitate what he refers to as the voluntary emigration of much of its population.

Palestinians and most of the international community have rejected plans to resettle Gaza’s population, a move experts say would likely violate international law.

Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages - its only bargaining chip - in return for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire, and a full Israeli withdrawal.

It has offered to give up power to a committee of politically independent Palestinians that could oversee reconstruction.

Hamas is still holding 58 hostages. Around a third are believed to be alive, though many fear they are in grave danger the longer the war goes on.

Thousands of Palestinians have been killed since Israel renewed its air strikes and ground operations after ending a ceasefire in March.

The dispute over whether there should be a temporary ceasefire to release more hostages - as Israel has called for, or a permanent one, as Hamas wants - has hampered talks brokered by the US, Egypt and Qatar for more than a year and a half, and there is no indication it has been resolved.

Mr Witkoff has not publicised his latest proposal, but a Hamas official and an Egyptian official independently confirmed some of the details.

They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.

They say it calls for a 60-day pause in fighting, guarantees of serious negotiations leading to a long-term truce and assurances that Israel will not resume hostilities after the release of hostages, as it did in March.

Israeli forces would pull back to the positions they held during the ceasefire that Israel ended that month.

Hamas would release 10 living hostages and a number of bodies during the 60-day pause in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, including 100 serving long sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks.

Each day, hundreds of trucks carrying food and humanitarian aid would be allowed to enter Gaza, where experts say a nearly three-month Israeli blockade - slightly eased in recent days - has pushed the population to the brink of famine.

Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 hostages.

Israel’s ensuing military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants.

The offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90 per cent of its population of roughly two million Palestinians, with hundreds of thousands living in squalid tent camps and unused schools.