Israel mulls Gaza truce proposal for Hamas to release 20 hostages

Israel is considering a new Egyptian truce proposal for the Gaza war under which Hamas would release 20 hostages taken in its attack of October 7th. Those released would be women, elderly and infirm detainees.

An Egyptian delegation held talks in Israel on Friday, and the Egyptian news channel Al Qahera Al Ekhbariya reported significant progress. Under the proposal, Israel wouldagree to a ceasefire of one day for each hostage released in a move that would further delay an Israeli attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Israel would also allow residents of northern Gaza to return to their homes.

It is still unclear whether Hamas will accept the framework, as it fails to meet its key demand that Israel commit to an end to the nearly seven-month-old war. US secretary of state Antony Blinken is expected to visit Israel next week in order to advance the Egyptian framework.

Mr Blinken told CNN on Friday it could be possible to roll out a framework for Israel-Saudi Arabia normalisation along with a proposal for a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians before a permanent Gaza ceasefire is implemented.

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Dozens of protesters, including a delegation of US rabbis, demonstrated near the Erez crossing into northern Gaza on Friday, calling for a ceasefire and the release of the hostages held by Hamas.

“The Israeli government is using hunger as a weapon against 2.3 million Gazans, preventing essential humanitarian aid and creating malnutrition and disease,” a statement by the protesters said.

It could take 14 years to clear the war debris in Gaza, a senior official at the United Nations Mine Action Service, Pehr Lodhammar, told a briefing in Geneva. This included dealing with unexploded Israeli ordnance.

“We know that typically there’s a failure rate of at least 10 per cent of land service ammunition that is being fired and fails to function,” he said. “We’re talking about 14 years of work with 100 trucks.”

[ Gazans venting anger against Hamas in wake of death and destruction ]

According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, more than 34,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began. Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 253 hostages were seized in the surprise Hamas attack on October 7th. It says 133 hostages taken by Hamas are unaccounted for, with the number still alive unknown.

Following pressure from London, Israel has agreed to allow foreign observers visit detention facilities holding Hamas militants who have been under arrest since the October 7th attack. The British government pressed Israel for visits after reports that the conditions in these facilities constitute a breach of international law.

The foreign observers will enter the detention facilities escorted by an Israeli judge to examine the conditions for militant detainees at first hand. Israel’s security cabinet approved the move, but the two far-right ministers voted against it, noting that Hamas refuses to allow the Red Cross to visit the Israeli hostages.

ABC News reported on Friday that the Biden administration will not place sanctions on the Israeli army’s Netzah Yehuda battalion, under review for human rights violations against Palestinians in the West Bank before the current war in Gaza. It was reported last week that Washington planned to sanction the ultra-Orthodox battalion after its soldiers were involved in the death of a 78-year-old Palestinian-American, Omar Assad, who died of a heart attack in 2022 after he was detained, bound and gagged.

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