Egypt makes new proposal to restore Gaza truce as Israeli strikes kill 65
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CAIRO/JERUSALEM - Egypt has floated a new proposal aimed at restoring the Gaza ceasefire deal, security sources told Reuters on March 24, as Palestinian health authorities said Israeli strikes had killed at least 65 people in the enclave in the previous 24 hours.
The proposal, made last week, follows an escalation in violence
Gaza health officials said Israeli airstrikes and shelling have killed nearly 700 Palestinians since then, including at least 400 women and children.
Among those killed on March 24 were two local journalists, Mohammad Mansour and Hussam Shabat, medics said. The Palestinian Journalist Syndicate said at least 206 journalists have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since early October 2023, when the conflict erupted. There was no immediate Israeli comment.
Islamist group Hamas said several of its senior political and security officials had also been killed.
The Egyptian plan calls for Hamas to release five Israeli hostages each week, with Israel implementing the second phase of the ceasefire after the first week, two security sources said.
Hamas is still holding 59 hostages, with 24 thought to be still alive, among the more than 250 it seized in its Oct 7, 2023 cross-border attack on Israel. Most of the rest have been freed, or their bodies handed over, in negotiated exchanges.
Both the US and Hamas have agreed to the proposal, the security sources said, but Israel has not yet responded.
A Hamas official did not confirm the proposed offer, but told Reuters that “several proposals are being discussed with the mediators to bridge the gap and to resume negotiations to reach common ground that would pave the way to start the second phase of the agreement”.
Timetable for withdrawal
The sources said the Egyptian proposal includes a timeline for a full Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza, backed by US guarantees, in exchange for the release of remaining hostages.
Hamas has accused Israel of breaking the terms of the January ceasefire agreement but has said it is willing to negotiate a renewed truce and was studying proposals from US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.
Israel says it resumed its military operations to force Hamas to release the remaining hostages it is holding in Gaza.
Relatives mourn Palestinian journalist Hussam Shabat during his funeral at the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, on March 24.
PHOTO: AFP
On March 24, Hamas released a video it said showed hostages Elkana Bohbot, 35, and Yosef Haim-Ohana, 24, who were both abducted from the Nova music festival site on Oct 7.
Israel says it does its best to reduce harm to civilians and has questioned the death toll provided by health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave.
Palestinian officials on March 23 put the number of dead from nearly 18 months of conflict at over 50,000.
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli tallies.
In Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, the municipality said thousands of people were stuck inside the Tel Al-Sultan district where some Israeli military forces had entered, with families trapped among the ruins, with no water, food, or medicine.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said 50,000 residents remained cornered in Rafah, which abuts the border with Egypt.
The Israeli military said troops had encircled Tel Al-Sultan to dismantle “terror infrastructure sites and eliminate terrorists in the area”.
A United Nations spokesperson said on March 24 it would reduce its footprint in Gaza after five staff members of its Palestinian relief agency UNRWA were killed in the renewed conflict, but remains committed to providing aid to civilians.
Separately, UNRWA said 124,000 Palestinians have been displaced in Gaza in recent days.
“Families carry what little they have with no shelter, no safety, and nowhere left to go. The Israeli authorities have cut off all aid. Food is scarce and prices are soaring. This is a humanitarian catastrophe. The siege must end,” UNRWA said on X. REUTERS
