Palestinian group Hamas responded to a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal, but a key official of the group said the proposed agreement “ends the war without guarantees.”
Speaking on Al Jazeera on Saturday, Basem Naim said Hamas still “responds positively” to the latest proposal by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, though the Palestinian group said the proposal was different from the one agreed with Witkoff a week ago.
"A week ago, we agreed to a proposal from Mr Witkoff, and we said, 'It's acceptable and we can think of it as a negotiating paper,'" Naim said. "He went to the other side and the Israelites came to get their response. Instead of responding to our proposal, he brought us a new suggestion...it has nothing to do with what we agree with."
Hamas said in a statement released earlier on Saturday that it had responded to Witkov, which proposed “to achieve a permanent ceasefire, conduct a full evacuation from the Gaza Strip and ensure the flow of aid” to Palestinians in Gaza.
Hamas added that there will be 10 living Israeli prisoners as part of the agreement and the bodies of 18 dead Israelis in exchange for "an agreed Palestinian prisoners."
Witkov called Hamas' response "completely unacceptable."
"Hamas should accept the framework proposal we proposed as the basis for proximity negotiations, and we can start immediately this week," the envoy said in a social media article. "This is the only way we can complete a 60-day ceasefire agreement in the next few days, where half of the hostages and half of the deceased will return to their families, and we can have substantive negotiations in the approaching negotiations to try to achieve a permanent ceasefire."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed Hamas' response: "As Witkoff said, Hamas' response was unacceptable and restored the situation.
Israel has now killed more than 54,000 Palestinians since October 2023, after weeks of Israel's blockade, hunger has shrouded Gaza, and only a small portion of aid has allowed Israel to allow it to recover in mid-May since Israel.
As hopeful permanent truce appears to disappear again, the levels of hunger and despair within Gaza will increase, and Israel has only allowed humanitarian aid to block it for more than two months in total, thus allowing only humanitarian aid to drip into the zone. The United Nations warned on Friday that all 2.3 million California populations are at risk of famine now. It was said in mid-May that the five Palestinians there would be hungry.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has enough food near the Gaza border to feed the entire population of the surrounded territory for two months, so it has updated its call for an immediate ceasefire, the only way to deliver food to hungry Palestinians.
The UN Food Bureau said in a statement that it brought 77 flour-loaded trucks into Gaza earlier on Friday and overnight, but they were stopped by people trying to feed hungry families.
The U.S. and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) continues to distribute its own controversial aid, which other aid groups say could violate humanitarian principles and put it in desperate need of food in the military. Gaza government media office said this week that at least 10 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces while trying to obtain assistance.
"We went to this new area and went home empty-handed," resident Layla Al-Masri said of a new GHF distribution point. "What they said about their willingness to feed the people of Gaza is a lie. They neither feed others nor give them any alcohol."
Another displaced Palestinian, Abdel Qader Rabie, said people in the besieged territory had nothing left to support their families. "No flour, no food, no bread. We have nothing at home," he said.
Rabie said that every time he tries to get a box of aid on the GHF, he is flocked by hundreds of others trying to get it. "If you are strong, you will get assistance. If not, you will be empty-handed."
There are other risks. Family reports that people disappeared after reaching the GHF allocation point.
“One of these cases is a man from the Al-Mughari family – which attracted the ICRC, the civil defense team OCHA, to look for him in the area – very close to the Netzarim Corridor (in central Gaza),” said Hind Khoudary, who is from Hind Khoudary in Deir El-Balah, central Gaza. Hodari added that Israeli authorities rejected the allegation.
Israeli troops are continuing their attacks on Gaza, and a spokesman for the territory's civil defense said about 60 houses were bombed in the city of Gaza and northern Gaza in the past 48 hours.
Israeli bombs attacked at least 20 Palestinians were also reported across Gaza on Saturday. Since Israel unilaterally broke the ceasefire in March, more than 3,900 Palestinians have been killed and the destruction of Gaza has been restored despite growing international condemnation.
Since the early hours of Friday, Israeli troops have also ordered "all residents" of Khan Yunis, Bani Suheila and Abasan to evacuate immediately after saying the Rockets were fired earlier. "(The Army) will actively attack any area used as a launch pad for terrorist activities," military spokesman Avicay Adraee said in a statement. He added that the southern region of Gaza "has been warned several times in the past and designated as a dangerous combat zone".
According to the United Nations, nearly 200,000 people will be displaced in the past two weeks alone, now covering the northernmost and southernmost Governors, as well as the eastern region of the three Governors.