Members of the Gaza Circus School relief team perform for children at Abdelaziz al-Rantisi Paediatric Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday —AFP GAZA CITY, Apr 15 (AFP/Reuters): A senior Hamas official said Tuesday the Palestinian Islamist movement expects to respond within 48 hours to an Israeli ceasefire proposal it received through mediators.
"Hamas will most likely send its response to the mediators within the next 48 hours, as the movement is still conducting in-depth consultations," the official told AFP.
Hamas said Monday it had received Israel's latest proposal to halt the war in Gaza, now in its 18th month.
The official said the offer includes a truce of at least 45 days in return for the release of 10 living hostages held in Gaza.
It also provides for the release of 1,231 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and the entry of humanitarian aid into the territory, which has been under complete blockade since March 2.
The proposal calls for a "permanent end to the war" on the condition Palestinian factions in Gaza, including Hamas, disarm, the official said.
Hamas has rejected the disarmament demand as a "red line" and "non-negotiable".
Israel has yet to comment on the proposal's contents.
EU to boost financial
aid for Palestinians
The European Union will increase its financial support for the Palestinian Authority with a three-year package worth around 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion), the European Commissioner responsible for the Middle East told Reuters in an interview.
Dubravka Suica, the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, said the financial support would go hand in hand with reforms of the Palestinian Authority, which has been accused by critics of corruption and bad governance.
"We want them to reform themselves because without reforming, they won't be strong enough and credible in order to be an interlocutor, not for only for us, but an interlocutor also for Israel," Suica said.
Maldives ban Israelis
to protest Gaza war
The Maldives announced Tuesday it was banning the entry of Israelis from the luxury tourist archipelago in "resolute solidarity" with the Palestinian people.
President Mohamed Muizzu ratified the legislation shortly after it was approved by parliament on Tuesday.
"The ratification reflects the government's firm stance in response to the continuing atrocities and ongoing acts of genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people," his office said in a statement.
"The Maldives reaffirms its resolute solidarity with the Palestinian cause."
The ban will be implemented with immediate effect, a spokesman for Muizzu's office told AFP.
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