US proposes 60-day ceasefire for Gaza

GAZA, May 30 (Agencies): A US plan for Gaza seen by Reuters on Friday proposes a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 28 Israeli hostages alive and dead in the first week, in exchange for the release of 1,236 Palestinian prisoners and the remains of 180 dead Palestinians.
The document, which says the plan is guaranteed by US President Donald Trump and mediators Egypt and Qatar, includes sending humanitarian aid to Gaza as soon as Hamas signs off on the ceasefire agreement.
The aid will be delivered by the United Nations, the Red Crescent and other agreed channels.
On Thursday, the White House said Israel had agreed to the US ceasefire proposal.
Israeli media said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the families of hostages held in Gaza that Israel had accepted the deal presented by President Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas told Reuters it was reviewing the plan and would respond on Friday or Saturday.
The US plan provides for Hamas to release the last 30 of the 58 remaining Israeli hostages once a permanent ceasefire is in place. Israel will also cease all military operations in Gaza as soon as the truce takes effect, it shows.
The Israeli army will also redeploy its troops in stages.
Meanwhile, a ceasefire proposal with Israel tabled by the administration of United States President Donald Trump is "still under discussion" by Hamas, but in its current form will only result in "the continuation of killing and famine" in Gaza, an official from the Palestinian group has said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that Israel had "signed off" on the ceasefire proposal, and the Trump administration's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, had submitted it to Hamas for consideration.
Hamas political bureau member Basem Naim told the Reuters news agency that the deal "does not meet any of our people's demands, foremost among them, halting the war".
44 killed in Israel attacks in Gaza,
after food warehouse looted
At least 44 people were killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, rescuers said, a day after a World Food Programme warehouse in the centre of the territory was looted by desperate Palestinians.
After a more than two-month blockade, aid has finally begun to trickle back into Gaza, but the humanitarian situation remains dire after 18 months of devastating war. Food security experts say starvation is looming for one in five people.