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The Palestinian group Hamas has said it is holding consultations with various Palestinian factions regarding the latest ceasefire proposal for Gaza, as Israel's relentless bombardment of the enclave enters its 22nd month, Al Jazeera reported.
In a statement on Friday, Hamas said it had entered discussions "with the leaders of Palestinian forces and factions around the proposal it received" from the mediating countries. "The movement will submit a final decision to the mediators after the consultations are over and will announce that officially," it added. A source close to Hamas told Reuters the group is seeking guarantees that the new United States-backed ceasefire proposal--details of which are still being worked out, according to two Israeli officials--will lead to a complete end to Israel's war on Gaza and will not allow Israel to break the ceasefire and resume its attacks at will. US President Donald Trump, who is expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, said he anticipates a response from Hamas soon regarding what he described as a "final proposal" for a ceasefire. "We'll see what happens, we are going to know over the next 24 hours," he said when asked whether Hamas had agreed to the latest ceasefire deal framework. Al Jazeera reported that Trump also said on Tuesday that Israel had accepted the conditions required to finalise a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, during which both sides would work towards ending the war. The US remains Israel's key weapons provider and diplomatic ally, but Trump stated, "I want the people of Gaza to be safe, more importantly. They've gone through hell." Trump had earlier suggested that the US take control of the Palestinian territory--a proposal announced in February--which drew widespread condemnation from rights experts, the United Nations, and Palestinians who labelled it "ethnic cleansing," Al Jazeera noted. A previous two-month truce collapsed when Israeli airstrikes killed more than 400 Palestinians on March 18, leading to what UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described as "the cruellest phase of a cruel war." Since then, more than 6,000 Palestinians have been killed. According to Al Jazeera, at least 57,130 Palestinians have been killed and more than 130,000 injured since October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched an attack in southern Israel that left approximately 1,139 people dead. In Gaza, hundreds of thousands have been displaced multiple times, with widespread destruction of cities, hospitals, and schools. The UN estimates that 85 percent of Gaza is now under Israeli military control. (ANI)
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