Egypt has put forward a new proposal aimed at restoring the Gaza ceasefire deal, security sources told Reuters on Monday, as Palestinian health authorities said Israeli strikes have killed at least 65 people in the enclave in the past 24 hours.
The proposal, made last week, follows an escalation in violence after Israel resumed air and ground operations in the enclave last Tuesday, effectively ending a two-month period of relative calm.
Health officials said Israel has killed nearly 700 Palestinians since it resumed its attacks, including at least 400 women and children.
Among those killed on Monday 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.
Palestinian militant 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 of them thought to still be alive.
Both the U.S. and Hamas agreed to the proposal, the security sources said, but Israel has not yet responded.
A Hamas official didn’t confirm the proposed offer, but told Reuters “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.”
Proposal includes timeline for Israel’s withdrawal
The sources said the Egyptian proposal also includes a timeline for Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza, backed by U.S. guarantees, in exchange for the hostages’ release.
Hamas has accused Israel of breaking the terms of the January ceasefire agreement, but has said it is willing to negotiate a truce and was studying proposals from U.S. 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.
On Monday, 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, 2023.
Israel has launched new airstrikes on targets in Gaza while its ground forces begin a renewed operation. Hamas responded by firing rockets at Tel Aviv.
Palestinian officials on Sunday put the death toll from nearly 18 months of conflict at over 50,000.
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas-led fighters stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
UN to reduce its footprint in Gaza
In Rafah, the local municipality said thousands of people were stuck inside the Tel Al-Sultan area, where the Israeli military sent some of its forces, 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.
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 Monday it would reduce its footprint in Gaza after five staff members of its Palestinian relief agency UNRWA were killed in the renewed conflict, but that it remains committed to providing aid to civilians.
UNRWA said 124,000 people 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,” it said on X.
