Hamas said on Saturday it was reviewing a new Israeli proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, a move that comes amid efforts to break the deadlock in talks between the armed group and Israel.
The statement came as anticipation grew of an Israeli invasion of Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where more than a million people have been displaced. Humanitarian groups have warned that such an offensive would have catastrophic consequences for civilians.
In a statement, Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, said the group had received an Israeli response to a proposal it handed over to Egyptian and Qatari mediators two weeks ago. Al-Hayya did not provide any details included in the Israeli proposal, but said Hamas would respond to it once the group finished studying it.
On Friday, a delegation of Egyptian officials visited Israel in an attempt to advance negotiations between Israel and Hamas, according to an Israeli official familiar with the visit, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to communicate with the media.
In recent weeks, negotiations aimed at achieving a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza have stalled amid disputes over an Israeli withdrawal of forces and the duration of the suspension of fighting. Hamas has demanded a permanent ceasefire, while Israel has expressed its willingness for a temporary pause.
Another key point is whether Israel will allow displaced Palestinians to return to the north. Hamas officials have said Palestinians should be able to return en masse, while Israeli officials have said Israel wants to put limits on who can return, where and how.
The impasse has left Palestinians in Gaza continuing to suffer from Israel’s devastating bombing campaign, which has caused destruction across the territory and left more than 34,000 dead, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry’s figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
It has also prevented Israeli hostages from being reunited with their families, many of whom have become increasingly critical of the Israeli government’s failure to ensure the freedom of their loved ones.
Calls for ceasefire talks have gained urgency as Israel signals it may press ahead with its invasion of Rafah. Earlier this week, an Israeli military official said that if Israel began an invasion of Rafah, an Israeli-designated “humanitarian zone” along the coast would be expanded to accommodate more civilians. He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
The comments were among the first indications of the Israeli military’s plans for civilians if it launched a major ground offensive in the area.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is expected to travel to Israel next week, a trip that would come at a time when the United States has urged Israel not to undertake a major military operation in Rafah.
Israeli officials have repeatedly said that entering Rafah was necessary to fight Hamas battalions there, but Israel’s allies have expressed serious concerns about what an invasion would mean for the people who have crowded into the city, many of them living in makeshift tents in large camps. .