Plan for one-month Gaza truce makes progress as Israel hits Khan Younis
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Israel and Hamas have moved closer to agreement on a 30-day ceasefire in Gaza when Israeli hostages and Palestinians prisoners would be released, sources told Reuters, as Israel pressed ahead with its assault on southern Gaza’s main city of Khan Younis.
Qatar, the U.S. and Egypt have held shuttle diplomacy since Dec. 28 seeking to bridge differences between Israel and the Palestinian militant group on a framework for a break in hostilities, which would also allow an increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza.
But the two sides remain at odds over how to permanently end the Gaza war, and Hamas has refused to move forward until this is resolved, the sources said.
Meanwhile, in its biggest operation in a month, the Israeli military pressed ahead with encircling Khan Younis where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering.
Israeli tanks on Tuesday shut the road from Khan Younis towards the Mediterranean coast, blocking the escape route for civilians trying to reach Rafah on Gaza’s southern edge bordering Egypt – now crammed with more than half the enclave’s 2.3 million people.
Israeli forces killed more than 100 militants in western Khan Younis in 24 hours, military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday evening. Israel says it has killed around 9,000 militants in total.
Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy said there would be no ceasefire that left Hamas in power and hostages in Gaza, following the militant group’s cross-border rampage on Oct. 7 in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.
Palestinian health officials said at least 195 Palestinians were killed over the prior 24 hours, raising the documented death toll to 25,490. Thousands more are feared lost in the rubble.
“The entire population of Gaza is enduring destruction at a scale and speed without parallel in recent history,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council.
“Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” he said, denouncing Israel’s opposition to creation of a Palestinian state that would exist alongside Israel.
