The Hamas terrorist group is seeking a ceasefire with Israel before the Muslim Ramadan period of fasting, it said Wednesday, while Israel and the United States say a deal for a pause is offered, and now the decision lies with Hamas.
The two parties are seemingly both saying the decision is to be taken by the other if certain conditions are met in a period when, historically, the Israel-Palestinian conflicts increased by a high degree.
Negotiators from Hamas, Qatar, and Egypt are in Cairo trying to secure a 40-day ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, while Israel was absent from the negotiations.
2 Dead From Houthi Attack
The possibility of a ceasefire seems small, however, with another Houthi attack on a ship in the Gulf of Aden that killed at least two people.
U.S. and British officials said the two killed were sailors, the first deaths reported since the Yemeni group began the strikes against shipping in one of the world’s busiest sea lanes.
The U.S. State Department said it would continue to hold the Houthis accountable for such attacks.
President Joe Biden said on Tuesday it was in the hands of Hamas whether to accept a deal on the table for a ceasefire in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages.
“We are showing the required flexibility in order to reach a comprehensive cessation of aggression against our people, but the occupation is still evading the entitlements of this agreement,” Hamas said in a statement.
Israeli forces are aiming to eradicate Hamas following its deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when terrorists killed 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped about 240.
Residents of Qatari-funded housing districts in Khan Younis reported explosions all night from the air and ground. Israeli warplanes also struck areas in the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, the city of Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, and part of the southern city of Rafah, witnesses said.
Health officials in Hamas-run Gaza said the number of people killed in Israel’s offensive had now passed 30,700, with 86 deaths reported in the past 24 hours. The health ministry does not differentiate between combatants and civilians in their data.
Ceasefire Requirements
The proposal presented to Hamas would free some of the hostages it still holds following the Oct. 7 attack.
Aid to Gaza would be increased to try to avert famine as hospitals treat acutely malnourished children, and Hamas would provide a list of all the hostages held in Gaza.
The release of sick, wounded, elderly, and women hostages would result in an immediate ceasefire in Gaza of at least six weeks, the White House said.
It said this would enable “a surge of humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza, and provide time and space to secure more enduring arrangements and sustained calm.”
“It’s in the hands of Hamas right now. Israelis have been cooperating. There’s been a rational offer,” President Biden told reporters.
Israel wants merely a pause in fighting to get hostages out of Gaza and more aid in, and says it will not end the conflict before Hamas is “eliminated.”
Famine in Gaza
Famine looms over Gaza as aid supplies have dwindled to barely a trickle. Swathes of territory are completely cut off from food.
The war in the Gaza Strip has displaced most of the enclave’s 2.3 million people, causing shortages of food, water, and medicine.
Israel last month intensified its bombardment of Rafah, a town in southern Gaza on the border with Egypt, where about 1.5 million people are estimated to be crammed.
The World Health Organization says most of the enclave’s 36 hospitals have stopped working. Only 12 are partially functioning—six in the north and six in the south—and one, the Al Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, is considered minimally functional.
Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative for Gaza and the West Bank, said on Tuesday that more than 8,000 people needed to be referred outside Gaza for medical treatment.
He said some 6,000 people needed to be referred for war-related injuries and ailments, while 2,000 others suffered from cancer or serious chronic illnesses.
The U.S. military carried out its first airdrop of food to Gazans on Saturday, and it plans more.
The airdrop has been viewed as the latest sign that Washington is moving beyond diplomacy with Israel, which the U.N. and other relief agencies complain has blocked or restricted aid. Israel denies hindering humanitarian aid.
Reuters contributed to this report.