Gaza ceasefire plan hangs in balance

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday that Hamas had proposed numerous changes, some unworkable, to a US-backed proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, but that mediators were determined to close the gaps.

The proposal outlined by US President Joe Biden envisages a truce and a phased release of Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians jailed in Israel, ultimately leading to a permanent end to the offensive.

At a press conference with Qatar's prime minister in Doha, Blinken said some of the counter-proposals from Hamas administering Gaza had sought to amend terms that it had accepted in previous talks.

"Hamas could have answered with a single word: Yes," Blinken said. "Instead, Hamas waited nearly two weeks and then proposed more changes, a number of which go beyond positions that it had previously taken and accepted."

The US has said Israel has accepted its proposal, but Israel has not publicly stated this.

Izzat al-Rishq from Hamas' political bureau said its formal response to the US proposal was "responsible, serious and positive" and "opens up a wide pathway" for an accord.

Hamas also wants written guarantees from the US on the ceasefire plan, two Egyptian security sources said.

Major powers are intensifying efforts to halt the conflict in part to prevent it spiralling into a regional war, with a dangerous flashpoint being the escalating hostilities on the Lebanese-Israeli border.

Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, backed by Iran, fired barrages of rockets at Israel yesterday in retaliation for the killing of a senior Hezbollah field commander. Israel said it had in turn attacked the launch sites from the air.

Taleb Abdallah, or Abu Taleb, was the most senior Hezbollah commander killed in the conflict, a security source said, and Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine vowed that the group would expand its operations against Israel.

At least 37,202 Palestinians have been killed and 84,932 have been injured in the offensive that began on October 7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement yesterday. Some 38 Palestinians were killed in the previous 24 hours, the ministry added.

A UN inquiry found that both Israel and Hamas had committed war crimes early in the Gaza offensive, and that Israel's actions also constituted crimes against humanity because of the immense civilian losses.

The UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) produced two parallel reports, one focusing on the October 7 attacks and another on Israel's response.

Israel, which did not cooperate, dismissed the findings as the result of anti-Israeli bias. Hamas did not immediately comment.

As diplomats sought a ceasefire deal, Israel continued assaults in central and southern Gaza. Residents said Israeli forces had pounded areas across Gaza yesterday as tanks advanced towards the northern part of the city of Rafah, on the Egyptian border.