Osama Hamdan

Hamas has rejected the new conditions proposed by Israel for a ceasefire agreement, insisting on adherence to the terms established on July 2, CNN reported. The Hamas delegation departed Cairo on Sunday evening after talks with mediators, casting further doubt on the prospects of a breakthrough in the US-supported efforts to end the 10-month-long conflict.

“We prefer not to delve into these ideas yet. We await a response, likely by today (Friday) or tomorrow morning (Saturday),” Hamdan emphasized.

“If the response is positive, we will delve into the details of these ideas, aiming for their swift implementation,” he added optimistically.

Israel's announcement to purportedly legalize five settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank and the issuance of tenders for thousands of illegal housing units in the area face global condemnations.

In a post published on his official X account on June 29, U.N. Mideast envoy Tor Wennesland denounced the measure as "deeply concerning."

Displaced Palestinians walk past destroyed buildings in al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on June 12, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas

A U.S.-backed proposal for a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas appears to be in limbo, with neither side yet publicly committing to the current plan for a Gaza deal amid demands for changes.

Top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken said Wednesday that a truce and hostage release deal to end the Gaza war was still possible, wrapping up a Middle East tour as deadly strikes rocked the Palestinian territory.

Lebanon's Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, rained rockets on northern Israel, a day after an Israeli strike killed one of its senior commanders.

Doubts grew on Thursday over the fate of a Gaza truce plan that, as the week began, had raised hopes of an end to nearly seven months of war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants.

Israel was still waiting for Hamas's response to the latest proposal, said an Israeli official not authorised to speak publicly.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday dismissed Hamas's demand for a ceasefire and ordered troops to prepare to move on the city of Rafah in Gaza's far south, where more than one million Palestinians have sought refuge.

Three Israeli hostages who were mistakenly shot by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip had been waving a white flag and were shirtless when they were killed, military officials said Saturday, in Israel's first such acknowledgement of harming any hostages in its war against Hamas.