US presents Gaza ceasefire proposal 'bridging remaining gaps' between Israel and Hamas

Mediators upbeat as talks in Doha end, but Hamas – which did not attend – says the offer 'does not look promising'

The minaret of a mosque is silhouetted by the setting sun in Deir Al Balah in central Gaza on August 16. AFP

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The US, with support from Egypt and Qatar, on Friday presented “a final grid proposal” to Israel and Hamas that aims to bridge the remaining gaps between the sides, as the latest round of talks in Doha came to an end.

A senior US administration official said the sides plan to reconvene in Cairo next week, with the aim of securing an agreement that would end the 10-month-old war.

“We aim to conclude this deal,” the official told reporters. “We put down a final grid proposal, a comprehensive text.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to travel to Israel on Saturday to push for the deal.

The US, Qatar and Egypt said the proposal builds on areas of agreement and bridged the remaining gaps in a manner “that allows for a swift implementation of the deal”.

The latest round of negotiations in the Qatari capital took place on Thursday and Friday. Israeli officials attended, but Hamas chose not to take part.

Despite the positive statement from mediators, Hamas said no progress has been made so far.

“The information we have received from the negotiations does not meet the aspirations of the Palestinian people and does not look promising,” Walid Kilani, a Hamas spokesman in Lebanon, told The National on Friday.

The US official said more work remains ahead as the sides are still negotiating the list of hostages and the sequence by which they would be released, as well as the list of Palestinian detainees to be released from Israeli jails in exchange.

The official also addressed discussions on the Philadelphi Corridor, a stretch of land along the border with Egypt, now controlled by Israel.

“We've been working very closely with Egypt and others, and also, of course, Egypt mediation with Hamas about the arrangements in Philadelphi Corridor,” the official said. “I think that issue is moving the right way.”

Hamas said the prospects for a ceasefire deal appear bleak, despite the continuing talks, accusing Israel of introducing new conditions to complicate negotiations.

“The outcome so far does not reflect what was agreed upon in July,” Mr Kilani said. He also accused Israel of “imposing additional conditions and trying to establish a new reality”.

He stated that “Israel continues to obstruct efforts to reach a solution, even though Hamas has already welcomed [US President Joe] Biden’s ceasefire plan and agreed in July to begin its implementation”.

UN agencies on Friday called for two seven-day breaks in the fighting in Gaza to vaccinate more than 640,000 children against polio, which has been detected in the wastewater.

The UN's health and children's agencies said they had drawn up detailed plans to reach children across the besieged Palestinian territory, starting later this month.

“WHO and Unicef request all parties to the conflict to implement humanitarian pauses in the Gaza Strip for seven days to allow for two rounds of vaccination campaigns to take place,” they said.

A WHO spokeswoman said they were asking for seven days during each round.

“These pauses in fighting would allow children and families to safely reach health facilities and community outreach workers to get to children who cannot access health facilities for polio vaccination,” the statement said.

“Without the humanitarian pauses, the delivery of the campaign will not be possible.”

Ongoing violence

A Palestinian UN worker was killed on Thursday night when the Israeli military bombed Al Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, the Wafa news agency reported. Six people were also killed in an air strike on a residential building in the northern Jabalia camp, it added.

Wafa published images of the body of a man on a stretcher wearing a blue UN vest. The UN has not yet confirmed the death of one of its workers.

Casualties from the attack on the building in Jabalia were taken to the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza.

On Friday, the Israeli army said it distributed flyers in northern Khan Younis and eastern Deir Al Balah telling people to evacuate. The move will worsen overcrowding in Al Mawasi refugee camp, which was designated as a “safe zone” by the military.

Half a million people have taken shelter at the camp, but it has come under attack several times. Last month, at least 90 people were killed and 300 injured in Israeli strikes on the site. Israel said Mohammed Deif, leader of Hamas's military wing, was the target of the strikes.

The Israeli army said on X that “the humanitarian area will be adjusted”. But a resident of Al Mawasi told The National there was “no space” left. “Those two areas [of evacuation] have a huge amount of people.”

Israel called on civilians to “temporarily evacuate” the area. But many residents said their homes had been destroyed, giving them little reason to return.

The Israeli attacks and displacement orders came after the death toll in Gaza passed 40,000 on Thursday, with at least 92,400 injured, health officials in the enclave said. Thousands are feared buried under rubble left by Israel's war on Gaza, which began on October 7.

Figures in May showed at least 255 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza since October 7, including 188 from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

In the occupied West Bank, one Palestinian was killed and another critically injured on Thursday when about 50 Israeli settlers invaded the village of Jit, east of Qalqilya. Settlers torched at least four homes and six vehicles, an Israeli security official told the Times of Israel.

The body of the villager, identified as Rashid Mahmoud Sedda, 22, and the injured man were taken to the Rafidia Government Hospital in Nablus, Wafa reported. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said its medics provided treatment to the injured man.

Hamas, whose attack on southern Israel in October killed about 1,200 people, described the village invasion as a “criminal attack”, saying it was part of Israel’s plans to eradicate Palestinians in the West Bank.

“The policy of raids, assassinations and unleashing herds of settlers will only increase our people’s adherence to their land and sanctities,” the group said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he took the attack on the village and “injury to life and property” seriously. “Those who fight terrorism are the [army] and the security forces, and no one else,” he said. “Those responsible for any criminal act will be caught and prosecuted.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog issued a statement condemning the “pogrom”. Police and army units intervened and arrested one Israeli, the military said. It is examining reports of the death of the Palestinian, it added.

Jack Lew, US ambassador to Israel, criticised the attack and called for the settlers responsible to be held accountable. “I am appalled by yesterday's violent attack by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank,” he said on X on Friday.