Hamas gives ‘initial’ support to Gaza truce plan as Israeli attacks leave 112 Palestinians dead

Palestinian Territories – AFP

Fighting in Gaza raged on Friday with scores reported killed overnight, after mediator Qatar said Hamas had given its “initial” support to a prisoner exchange deal that would pause its war with Israel.

The health ministry in the territory said 112 people had been killed over the previous 24 hours, while the Hamas press office reported Israeli air and artillery bombardment around Khan Yunis — southern Gaza’s main city and the focus of recent fighting.

Gaza City resident Abir al-Madhun said leaflets calling on civilians to leave had again been dropped by Israeli aircraft over the Al-Shifa Hospital compound where she has sought refuge.

“Our houses were destroyed; our children were killed. Where should we go?” she asked. “The shooting must stop so we can find a place to live.”

Nearly four months of fighting have left Gaza “uninhabitable”, the United Nations says, while an Israeli siege has resulted in dire shortages of food, water, fuel and medicines.

Winter storms brought torrential rain to Gaza Friday, piling more misery on the hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians who have sought shelter in bombed out buildings and makeshift camps.

The humanitarian crisis and the mounting civilian death toll have triggered growing international calls for a ceasefire.

After a truce proposal agreed with Israeli negotiators was presented to Hamas on Thursday, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said there were hopes of “good news” about a fresh pause to the fighting “in the next couple of weeks”.

Ansari said a truce plan thrashed out with Israeli negotiators by Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators in Paris earlier this week had received a “positive” initial response from Hamas.

“That proposal has been approved by the Israeli side and now we have an initial positive confirmation from the Hamas side,” he said.

But a source close to Hamas told AFP: “There is no agreement on the framework of the agreement yet — the factions have important observations — and the Qatari statement is rushed and not true.”

A Hamas source said the group had been presented with a three-stage plan which would start with an initial six-week halt to the fighting that would see more aid deliveries into Gaza.

The pause would also see the release of “women, children and sick men over 60” among the Israelis in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel, the source said, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.