Egypt proposes two-day Gaza truce in hope of full ceasefire

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday proposed a two-day truce in Gaza and a limited hostage exchange aimed at securing "a complete ceasefire" after more than a year of war between Israel and Hamas.

The proposal includes exchanging four Israeli hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, with further negotiations to follow within 10 days, Sisi stated at a news conference in Cairo.

He did not clarify whether the plan had been formally presented to either Israel or Hamas.

Sisi's proposal comes as Israel continues its offensive in the Palestinian territory while simultaneously fighting a war against Hezbollah in Lebanon and having just conducted airstrikes on Iran.

Saturday's strikes were Israel's response to previous Iranian ballistic missile attacks, drawing global calls for restraint.

The U.N. Security Council is set to meet on Monday at Iran's request, with Tehran calling for the body to condemn the strikes that killed four soldiers.

Iranian leaders downplayed the strikes' significance, saying the attacks caused only limited damage.

President Masoud Pezeshkian told his cabinet that Iran does not seek war but promised "an appropriate response."

According to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Tehran had "received indications" hours before the attack. U.S. news site Axios reported earlier that Israel had provided a warning to "prevent a wider escalation."

With traders relieved that Israel's strikes had avoided Iran's energy infrastructure, oil prices tumbled Monday, falling as much as five percent before recovering some of their losses.

Israel launched the strikes in retaliation for an Oct. 1 missile attack by Iran, which itself was a response to the killings of...