Hamas discussing ceasefire proposals by Trump

US president says Israel accepted

FE Team | Published: July 03, 2025 00:09:49

JERUSALEM, July 2 (AFP): Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Wednesday it was discussing proposals for a Gaza ceasefire received from mediators, after US President Donald Trump said Israel backed a 60-day ceasefire in the war-ravaged territory.
Nearly 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has recently expanded its military operations against Hamas militants.
The civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 33 people on Wednesday.
Trump urged Hamas on Tuesday to accept a 60-day ceasefire, saying Israel had agreed to finalise such a deal. The Israeli government has not commented on that claim.
Hamas said in a statement Wednesday it was "conducting national consultations to discuss what we received from the proposals of the... mediators".
It said it aimed "to reach an agreement that guarantees ending the aggression, achieving the withdrawal (of Israel from Gaza) and urgently aiding our people in the Gaza Strip".
Without directly mentioning Trump's remarks, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that "a large majority within the government and the population is in favour" of a deal to free hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
"If the opportunity arises, it must not be missed!" Saar wrote on X.
Out of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during Hamas's 2023 attack that triggered the war, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
On the ground in southern Gaza, civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that five members of the same family were killed in an Israeli air strike on Wednesday that hit a tent housing displaced people in the Al-Mawasi area.
Despite being declared a safe zone by Israel in December 2023, Al-Mawasi has been hit by repeated Israeli strikes.
AFP footage from the area showed makeshift tents blown apart as Palestinians picked through the wreckage trying to salvage what was left of their belongings.
One man held a pack of nappies, asking: "Is this a weapon?"
"They came here thinking it was a safe area and they were killed... What did they do?" said another resident, Maha Abu Rizq, against a backdrop of destruction.
AFP footage from nearby Khan Yunis city showed infants covered in blood being rushed into Nasser Hospital. One man carrying a child whose face was smeared with blood screamed: "Children, children!"
Some appeared terrified while others lay still on hospital beds in bloodied bandages and clothes as medics treated them. Further north, Bassal said four people from the same family were killed in a pre-dawn Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza City, and another five in a drone strike on a house in the central Deir el-Balah area.
Bassal later reported seven killed in a strike in Gaza City, five more killed by Israeli army fire near an aid distribution site close to the southern city of Rafah, and a further death following Israeli fire near an aid site in the centre of the territory.
They are the latest in a string of deadly incidents that have hit people waiting for food.
Bassal said a further four people were killed in an air strike on a tent for displaced people southwest of Gaza City and two in an air strike on a school housing displaced people in Gaza City's Zeitun neighbourhood.