Hamas Response to Gaza Ceasefire Proposal ‘Consistent’ with Principles of US Plan, Leader Says

Palestinians attend Eid al-Adha prayer in Khan Younis town, southern Gaza strip, 16 June 2024. (EPA)
Palestinians attend Eid al-Adha prayer in Khan Younis town, southern Gaza strip, 16 June 2024. (EPA)
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Hamas Response to Gaza Ceasefire Proposal ‘Consistent’ with Principles of US Plan, Leader Says

Palestinians attend Eid al-Adha prayer in Khan Younis town, southern Gaza strip, 16 June 2024. (EPA)
Palestinians attend Eid al-Adha prayer in Khan Younis town, southern Gaza strip, 16 June 2024. (EPA)

Hamas' response to the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal is consistent with the principles put forward in US President Joe Biden's plan, the group's Qatar-based leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a televised speech on the occasion of the Islamic Eid al-Adha on Sunday.

"Hamas and the (Palestinian) groups are ready for a comprehensive deal which entails a ceasefire, withdrawal from the strip, the reconstruction of what was destroyed and a comprehensive swap deal," Haniyeh said, referring to the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

On May 31, Biden laid out what he called a "three-phase" Israeli proposal that would include negotiations for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza as well as phased exchanges of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

Egypt and Qatar - which along with the United States have been mediating between Hamas and Israel - said on June 11 that they had received a response from the Palestinian groups to the US plan, without giving further details.

While Israel said Hamas rejected key elements of the US plan, a senior Hamas leader told Reuters that the changes the group requested were "not significant".



9 Killed in Khan Younis, Hours after Israel Ordered Mass Evacuation

Palestinians, who fled the eastern part of Khan Younis after they were ordered by Israeli army to evacuate their neighborhoods, ride on a pickup truck loaded with belongings, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip July 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
Palestinians, who fled the eastern part of Khan Younis after they were ordered by Israeli army to evacuate their neighborhoods, ride on a pickup truck loaded with belongings, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip July 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
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9 Killed in Khan Younis, Hours after Israel Ordered Mass Evacuation

Palestinians, who fled the eastern part of Khan Younis after they were ordered by Israeli army to evacuate their neighborhoods, ride on a pickup truck loaded with belongings, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip July 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
Palestinians, who fled the eastern part of Khan Younis after they were ordered by Israeli army to evacuate their neighborhoods, ride on a pickup truck loaded with belongings, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip July 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

An Israeli strike has killed at least nine people in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, Palestinian health officials said Tuesday, within a day of Israel ordering the evacuation of parts of the city ahead of a likely ground operation.

The overnight strike hit a home near the European Hospital, which is inside the zone that Israel said should be evacuated. After the initial evacuation orders, the military said the facility itself was not included, but its director said most patients and medics have already been relocated.

Sam Rose, the director of planning at the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, said Tuesday that the agency believes some 250,000 people are in the evacuation zone — over 10% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million — including many who have fled earlier fighting. He said another 50,000 people living just outside the zone may also choose to leave because of their proximity to the fighting. Evacuees have been told to seek refuge in a sprawling tent camp along the coast that is already overcrowded and has few basic services.

Since Oct. 7, Israeli ground offensives and bombardments have killed more than 37,900 people in Gaza, according to the territory's Health Ministry.

The war has largely cut off the flow of food, medicine and basic goods to Gaza, and people there are now totally dependent on aid. The top UN court has concluded there is a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza — a charge Israel strongly denies.