Published: 2025-08-18 18:17:12 | Views: 10
Hamas has informed mediators that it approves the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal, a group official told Reuters on Monday.
The official did not provide further details.
Key events
Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir has said on X that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has no mandate for a partial deal.”
Ben Gvir previously left the government the last time a ceasefire agreement was reached and has warned he may do so again if another deal with Hamas is signed.
Smoke billows following an Israeli strike on a house in Khan Yunis, earlier today.
The latest Gaza ceasefire proposal agreed by Palestinian group Hamas includes a suspension of military operations for 60 days and could be seen as a path to reach a comprehensive deal to end nearly two-year-long Gaza war, an Egyptian official source told Reuters on Monday.
The period of suspension would see the exchange of Palestinian prisoners in return for release of half of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza, the source said.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has called for another nationwide strike on Sunday, urging the Israeli government to end the war in exchange for the release of hostages, following a similar protest held yesterday.
The Times of Israel reported that the forum said yesterday’s protests “prove in a clear manner and a strong voice what most of the country wants: the nation of Israel supports the return of hostages and the end of the war!”
Hamas has informed mediators that it approves the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal, a group official told Reuters on Monday.
The official did not provide further details.
Benjamin Netanyahu has criticised massive street protests against his handling of the Gaza war, and failure to secure the release of remaining Israeli hostages, suggesting demonstrators were giving comfort to Hamas’s position in negotiations.
The Israeli prime minister made his comments against the backdrop of the largest protests in almost two years of war, with estimates that upwards of 400,000 joined marches across Israel on Sunday.
“The people who are calling today for the war’s end without Hamas’s defeat are not only toughening Hamas’s stance and distancing our hostages’ release, they are also ensuring that the atrocities of October 7 will recur time and again, and that our sons and daughters will have to fight time and again in an endless war.
“Therefore, in order to advance our hostages’ release and to ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel, we have to finish the job and defeat Hamas,” said Netanyahu in a statement.
The Palestinian health ministry said on Monday that more than 62,000 Palestinians had been killed in the 22-month war in Gaza.
At least 60 people were killed in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll from the Israel-Hamas war that started on 7 October 2023 to 62,004. Another 156,230 had been wounded, the ministry said.
While the day of protest was called by supporters of Israeli hostage families, the scale of the demonstrations suggests increasingly sharp divisions in Israeli society over a conflict that has yet to deliver the return of hostages at a mounting economic, diplomatic and social cost for the country.
The UK government is working “at pace” to bring sick and injured children from Gaza to Britain for urgent medical treatment, Downing Street has said.
Prime minister Keir Starmer’s official spokesperson said a cross-government task force is “up and running”, but warned that it is a “sensitive and complex process”.
His comments come after the BBC reported that the first group of critically ill and injured Gazan children, said to be between 30 and 50 patients, will be arriving “in the coming weeks”.
It is understood that the children will come from hospital with family members via a third country, where biometric data will be collected, and that some may enter the asylum system after completing treatment, PA reported.
The Number 10 spokesperson said: “We’re not going to get into a running commentary on numbers or the exact process.
“Exact numbers are going to depend on clinical need and various factors.”
He added: “We continue to take all those plans to evacuate more children from Gaza, who require urgent medical care in the UK and specialist treatment.
“Obviously, it’s sensitive and it’s a complex process, and the wellbeing of patients and their families is our top priority.
“There’s a cross-government task force working together to deliver this new scheme and we’ll obviously provide an update as and when we’ve got them.”
More than 50,000 children are estimated to have been killed or injured in Gaza since October 2023, according to Unicef. A small number of children have so far been brought to the UK for specialist medical care via an initiative by Project Pure Hope, and they are being treated privately.
Hamas negotiators in Cairo have received a new proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, calling for a 60-day truce and hostage release in two batches, a Palestinian official said on Monday. “The proposal is a framework agreement to launch negotiations on a permanent ceasefire,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that “Hamas will hold internal consultations among its leadership” and with leaders of other Palestinian factions to review the proposal.
Egypt said on Monday it was willing to join a potential international force deployed to war-torn Gaza, but only if backed by a UN security council resolution and accompanied by a “political horizon”, as ceasefire efforts pressed on in Cairo, AFP reports.
Amnesty International on Monday accused Israel of enacting a “deliberate policy” of starvation in Gaza, citing testimonies of displaced Palestinians and medical staff treating malnourished children in the territory. Israel, while heavily restricting aid allowed into the Gaza Strip, has repeatedly rejected claims of deliberate starvation in the 22-month-old war. Contacted by AFP, the military and foreign ministry did not immediately comment on Amnesty’s findings, AFP reports.
The Palestinian Health Ministry reports that more than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in the 22-month Gaza war, including 1,965 people killed while seeking aid or near aid distribution sites, the Associated Press reports.
Ahmed Mheisen, a Palestinian shelter manager in Beit Lahiya, a war-devastated suburb abutting eastern Gaza City, said 995 families had departed the area in recent days for the south, Reuters reports. With the Israeli offensive looming, Mheisen put the number of tents needed for emergency shelter at 1.5 million, saying Israel had allowed only 120,000 tents into the territory during a January-March ceasefire.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer has been urged to recall Parliament to “impose immediate sanctions” on Israel in a joint letter signed by politicians in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
On an official trip to Egypt, Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Mustafa has been visiting the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing into Gaza, alongside Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty. The pair visited aid warehouses in Al-Arish and a field hospital.
Israel on Monday announced it will provide emergency humanitarian aid to South Sudan, one of the world’s poorest countries in the midst of renewed violent political instability, AFP reports. The announcement by foreign minister Gideon Saar comes after media reports that Israel held talks with the African state to resettle Palestinians from Gaza – a claim South Sudan has firmly rejected.
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, said on Monday it had decided to exclude six companies with connections to the West Bank and Gaza from its portfolio, following a review of its Israeli investments. The $2tn wealth fund did not name the companies it had decided to exclude, but said these would be made public once the divestment was completed, Reuters reports.
US envoy Tom Barrack called on Israel to honour its commitments under a ceasefire that ended its war with Hezbollah, after the Lebanese government launched a process to disarm the militant group. Under the truce agreement, weapons in Lebanon were to be restricted to the state and Israel was to fully withdraw its troops from the country, although it has kept forces in five border points it deems strategic. “I think the Lebanese government has done their part. They’ve taken the first step. Now what we need is Israel to comply with that equal handshake,” Barrack said following a meeting in Beirut with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
Here are some images coming to us over the wires.
Israel on Monday announced it will provide emergency humanitarian aid to South Sudan, in the midst of renewed violent political instability, AFP reports.
The announcement by foreign minister Gideon Saar comes after media reports that Israel held talks with the African state to resettle Palestinians from Gaza – a claim South Sudan has firmly rejected.
The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, now in its 23rd month, has created a dire humanitarian crisis for the Palestinian territory’s population of more than two million people.
“In light of the severe humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, (Israel) will deliver urgent humanitarian assistance to vulnerable populations in the country,” a statement from Saar’s office said.
“South Sudan is currently struggling with a cholera outbreak and facing a severe shortage of resources,” the statement added.
“The aid will include essential medical supplies for treating patients, water purification equipment, gloves and face masks, as well as special hygiene kits to prevent cholera, and food packages,” the statement added.
Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Sharren Haskel, paid an official visit to the country’s capital, Juba, last week.
Meanwhile, UN-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in Gaza, where Israel has drastically curtailed the amount of humanitarian aid it allows in, and convoys have been repeatedly looted.
The Palestinian Health Ministry reports that more than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in the 22-month Gaza war, including 1,965 people killed while seeking aid or near aid distribution sites, the Associated Press reports.
On Monday, they stated that at least 60 people died in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll from the Israel-Hamas conflict, which began on 7 October 2023, to 62,004. Another 156,230 have been wounded.
Over the past 24 hours, Gaza Strip hospitals recorded five deaths, including two children, due to famine and malnutrition, bringing the total number of deaths to 263, including 112 children, the ministry said.
The United Nations and other experts consider the ministry’s figures reliable, though Israel disputes them and hasn’t provided its own casualty count.
Ahmed Mheisen, a Palestinian shelter manager in Beit Lahiya, a war-devastated suburb abutting eastern Gaza City, said 995 families had departed the area in recent days for the south, Reuters reports.
With the Israeli offensive looming, Mheisen put the number of tents needed for emergency shelter at 1.5 million, saying Israel had allowed only 120,000 tents into the territory during a January-March ceasefire.
The UN humanitarian office said last week that 1.35 million people were already in need of emergency shelter items in Gaza.
Here are some images coming to us over the wires.
Egypt said on Monday it was willing to join a potential international force deployed to war-torn Gaza, but only if backed by a UN security council resolution and accompanied by a “political horizon”, as ceasefire efforts pressed on in Cairo, AFP reports.
“We are standing ready of course to help, to contribute to any international force to be deployed in Gaza in some specific parameters,” Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty told a joint press conference with Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Mustafa at the Rafah border crossing on Monday.
“First of all, to have a security council resolution, to have a clear-cut mandate, and of course to come within a political horizon,” Abdelatty said.
“Without a political horizon, it will be nonsense to deploy any forces there.”
Abdelatty said a political framework would enable international troops to operate more effectively and support Palestinians “to realise their own independent Palestinian state in their homeland”.
The Palestinian premier, Mustafa, said a temporary committee would manage the territory after the war ended, with full authority resting with the Palestinian government.
“We’re not creating a new political entity in Gaza. Rather, we are reactivating the institutions in the State of Palestine and its government in Gaza,” he said.
Israel’s foreign minister has revoked the visas of Australian representatives to the Palestinian Authority, citing Australia’s “unjustified refusal” to grant visas to Israeli figures and its intention to recognise Palestinian statehood.
In a post to X on Monday night, Gideon Sa’ar said the decision was made following the Albanese government’s cancellation of Simcha Rothman’s visa on Monday ahead of his speaking tour this month.
“While antisemitism is raging in Australia, including manifestations of violence against Jews and Jewish institutions, the Australian government is choosing to fuel it by false accusations, as if the visit of Israeli figures will disrupt public order and harm Australia’s Muslim population,” Sa’r said.
“It is shameful and unacceptable!”
Reports that some Palestinians are leaving eastern areas of Gaza City come amid warnings that the move by the Israeli military to prepare for the forcible displacement of 1 million people from the area will lead to a deepening of the humanitarian disaster in the region.
Malak A Tantesh in Gaza and Lorenzo Tondo in Jerusalem spoke to some of those affected.
We are already destroyed and exhausted, physically and psychologically, from repeated displacement, from the lack of food and water,” Akram Shlabia, 85, told the Guardian from the Shuja’iyya neighbourhood of Gaza City. “And now they want us to go to the south. Into nothingness, into the unknown, into a place without shelter or the basic means of life, even safety.”
“We will face many problems in displacement,” said Mazen Hasaneh, 40, from al-Tuffah neighbourhood, who has been displaced six times during the war. “First, securing a way to transport the necessary items like a tent and other basics, and of course many drivers will exploit people’s desperation and raise prices, while people have no money to pay.
“The second problem is finding a place to set up the tent and settle, along with the difficulty of finding and providing water and food. Everything about displacement is suffering, especially in our current conditions.”
“If the plan is carried out, I will look for a safe place for myself and my children within Gaza, and I will not consider moving to the south of the Strip,” said Asma Al-Barawi, 34, from al-Tuffah, the mother of seven children. “I didn’t leave the first time, and I won’t leave this time. The experiences and suffering I heard from the displaced who went south were harsh and unbearable.”
“I lost everything because of this war,” she added. “I lost two of my brothers, two of my maternal aunts with their families, my cousin, and my father-in-law. And, I lost my new home, which I only left with some clothes.”
Some Palestinians, fearing an Israeli onslaught could come soon, are leaving eastern areas of Gaza City for points to the west, while others are exploring evacuating further south, Reuters reports.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described Gaza City as Hamas’ last bastion. But, with Israel already holding 75% of Gaza, the military has warned that expanding the offensive could endanger hostages still alive and draw troops into protracted and deadly guerrilla warfare.
In Gaza City, many Palestinians have also been calling for protests soon to demand an end to a war that has demolished much of the territory and wrought a humanitarian disaster, and for Hamas to intensify talks to avert the Israeli ground offensive.
An Israeli armoured incursion into Gaza City could see the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom have been uprooted multiple times earlier in the war.
“The people of Gaza City are like someone who received a death sentence and is awaiting execution,” said Tamer Burai, a Gaza City businessman.
“I am moving my parents and my family to the south today or tomorrow. I can’t risk losing any of them should there be a surprising invasion,” he told Reuters via a chat app.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli strikes and gunfire across the territory killed at least 11 people on Monday, AFP reports
The Israeli military has been contacted for comment.
