The White House has announced that Israel has “signed off” on a new ceasefire proposal directed at Hamas. However, Hamas has expressed that the terms do not adequately address their demands.
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As negotiations to resolve over 19 months of ongoing conflict continue, a true breakthrough remains elusive. Following a brief truce, Israel resumed air strikes in Gaza earlier this March.
According to the White House, President Donald Trump and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff have “submitted a ceasefire proposal to Hamas that has Israel’s backing.” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed, “Israel signed off on this proposal before it was sent to Hamas,” while also noting that discussions with Hamas are “continuing.”
While Israel has not publicly confirmed its approval of the new proposal, sources within Hamas indicated that the organization accepted an earlier U.S. deal. However, Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, pointed out that this revised agreement “means the continuation of killing and famine…and does not meet any of our people’s demands, foremost among them halting the war.” He added, “Nonetheless, the movement’s leadership is studying the response to the proposal with full national responsibility.”
A source close to Hamas described the updated version as “a retreat” from previous agreements, stating it lacked an American commitment to permanent ceasefire negotiations.
Details of the new proposal, according to insider accounts, include a 60-day truce—potentially extendable to 70 days—along with the release of ten living hostages and nine deceased individuals in exchange for Palestinian prisoners during the initial week.
Humanitarian Concerns
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza remains critical, despite a gradual resumption of aid following a two-month blockade. Food security experts have warned that starvation could soon threaten one in every five individuals in the region.
In a determined attempt to dismantle Hamas—following the group’s attack on October 7, 2023—Israel has intensified its military operations. Reports indicate that 54 individuals were killed in recent Israeli strikes, including 23 in air raids on a residential home in Al-Bureij, and two more casualties due to gunfire near a U.S.-backed aid center located in the Morag axis in southern Gaza. This center operates under the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and aims to facilitate aid distribution while circumventing Hamas.
Footage of the incident showed civilians scrambling for bags of emergency food supplies, highlighting the severe conditions on the ground. The GHF’s approach has attracted criticism from the United Nations and the European Union.
“What is happening to us is degrading,” stated Sobhi Areef, a visitor to the GHF center. “We go there and risk our lives just to get a bag of flour to feed our children.”
The Israeli military claimed they were unaware of the shooting incident near the aid center, asserting that their operations in Al-Bureij targeted a “Hamas cell” and that they were reviewing reports of civilian casualties.
In a conversation with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi accused Israel of employing “systematic starvation tactics” that have “crossed all moral and legal boundaries.” The aid situation is further complicated amid growing concerns of starvation and intense scrutiny of the GHF, which has bypassed the traditional UN-led aid distribution framework in the area.
Meanwhile, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, asserted that aid trucks are entering via the Kerem Shalom crossing, accusing the UN of attempting to obstruct the GHF’s operations. The United Nations has stated that it is doing everything possible to distribute the limited aid that is being allowed into Gaza.
A Unified Appeal
Palestinians in Gaza have described chaotic scenes at the GHF’s newly opened distribution center in the central Netzarim corridor. “People are very hungry,” said Mohammed Abdel Aal, 29. “I ran, like everyone else, trying to get an aid box.” Unfortunately, he returned empty-handed, as forces at the facility resorted to “firing bullets and grenades at us, which forced us to retreat.”
A teenage boy from Al-Bureij echoed this sentiment, stating, “Hunger is stronger than fear,” despite the presence of gunfire. The GHF later remarked that its personnel faced a “tense and potentially dangerous crowd that refused to disperse,” leading them to deploy non-lethal deterrents, including smoke and warning shots into the ground, to ensure the safety of civilians and their staff.
On the front lines of the ongoing crisis, medical facilities in Gaza continue to bear the brunt of relentless attacks and increasing pressure. Al-Awda Hospital reported that Israeli forces initiated a “forced evacuation” of patients and medical personnel, noting it was “the only hospital that was still operating in the northern Gaza Strip.”
Since the onset of the conflict after Hamas’ October 2023 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people—mostly civilians—Israel has dramatically escalated its military actions. Out of the 251 hostages taken during the attack, 57 remain in Gaza, with Israeli military officials claiming that 34 of them are deceased. The health ministry in Gaza has reported that at least 3,986 lives have been lost in the territory since the ceasefire ended on March 18, bringing the overall toll of the war to 54,249, primarily civilian casualties.
In addition, the Israeli military has reported the death of an “employee of a contracting company that carries out engineering work” in northern Gaza, and successfully intercepted a missile fired from Yemen in an attack claimed by the Houthi movement.
As the world watches, these events unfold as a painful reminder of the urgent need for a peaceful resolution.
Edited by Ali Musa
Axadle Times International – Monitoring
