Israel continued to pound Gaza on Thursday amid efforts for a cease-fire in its genocidal war showed signs of revival.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to discuss a new Hamas proposal with his security Cabinet and hold consultations with his negotiations team on Thursday.
Israel received Hamas’ response Wednesday to a proposal made public at the end of May by U.S. President Joe Biden that would include the release of about 120 hostages held in Gaza and a cease-fire in the Palestinian enclave.
A Palestinian official close to the mediation effort told Reuters that Hamas, the resistance group that controls Gaza, has showed flexibility over some clauses, that would allow a framework agreement to be reached should Israel approve.
Two Hamas officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Hamas has said any deal must end the war and bring a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel maintains it will accept only temporary pauses in the fighting until Hamas is eradicated.
The plan entails the gradual release of Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza and the pullback of Israeli forces over the first two phases and the freeing of Palestinian prisoners. The third phase involves the reconstruction of the war-shattered territory and the return of the remains of deceased hostages.
In Gaza, Palestinians reacted cautiously ahead of Israel’s response.
“We hope that this is the end of the war, we are exhausted and we can’t stand more setbacks and disappointments,” said Youssef, a father of two, now displaced in Khan Younis, in the south of the enclave.
“Every more hour into this war, more people die, and more houses get destroyed, so enough is enough. I say this to my leaders, to Israel and the world,” he told Reuters via a chat app.
Relentless
On Thursday, an Israeli strike hit a school in Gaza City and the Civil Emergency Service said five Palestinians were killed and others wounded while other Israeli strikes Gaza City’s old town Thursday killed a woman and wounded several others, medics said.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tanks also shelled several areas on the eastern side of Khan Younis after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders Tuesday but there has been no movement by the tanks into those areas, residents said.
On Thursday, many Palestinians were still seeking shelter following the evacuation order, which also included the border city of Rafah and which the United Nations said was the largest such edict since 1.1 million people were told to leave the north of the enclave in October.
Khan Younis residents said many families slept on the road because they could not find tents.
Israeli planes and tanks bombed several areas in the northern Gaza areas of Shejaia, Sabra, Daraj and Tuffah, killing several Palestinians, including children, and wounding others, health officials said.
The Israeli military said that its troops and aircraft killed dozens of resistance members in those areas and in Rafah, in southern Gaza, which Israel has described as Hamas’ last stronghold.
The war has created a humanitarian crisis and destroyed the majority of the enclave’s medical facilities.
On Thursday, the Gaza Health Ministry said that generators at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, the only main hospital still functioning, would run out of fuel within hours and appealed to international humanitarian organizations for help to secure fresh supplies.
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