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Hamas has informed mediators it approves the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal, a group official said Monday, as the Palestinian death toll from the 22-month conflict surpassed 62,000 and mass protests in Israel intensified pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war.
The ceasefire framework calls for a 60-day suspension of military operations and the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for half of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza, according to an Egyptian official source who spoke to Reuters. The proposal represents what negotiators describe as a potential pathway to a comprehensive agreement to end the conflict that began Oct. 7, 2023.
The development comes as Netanyahu faces mounting domestic opposition to his war strategy. An estimated 400,000 Israelis participated in nationwide protests Sunday — the largest demonstrations since the war began — demanding the government prioritize hostage releases over continued military operations.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has called for another nationwide strike Sunday, with organizers saying the protests "prove in a clear manner and a strong voice what most of the country wants: the nation of Israel supports the return of hostages and the end of the war."
Netanyahu pushed back against the demonstrations, arguing that calls to end the war without defeating Hamas would ensure "the atrocities of October 7 will recur time and again." The Israeli leader said protesters were "toughening Hamas's stance and distancing our hostages' release."
"Therefore, in order to advance our hostages' release and to ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel, we have to finish the job and defeat Hamas," Netanyahu said in a statement.
The Palestinian Health Ministry reported Monday that at least 60 people died in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 62,004. Another 156,230 have been wounded since the conflict began. The ministry also recorded five additional deaths from famine and malnutrition in the past day, including two children, raising the total number of starvation-related deaths to 263.
Among the overall casualties, 1,965 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid or near aid distribution sites, according to ministry figures that United Nations experts consider reliable, though Israel disputes the numbers.
The humanitarian crisis has forced massive displacement within Gaza, with shelter manager Ahmed Mheisen reporting that 995 families departed the war-devastated Beit Lahiya area for southern Gaza in recent days. Mheisen estimated that 1.5 million tents are needed for emergency shelter, but said Israel allowed only 120,000 tents into the territory during a January-March ceasefire.
Egypt signaled willingness Monday to participate in a potential international force for post-war Gaza, but only under specific conditions. Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Egypt would contribute "only if backed by a UN security council resolution and accompanied by a political horizon."
"Without a political horizon, it will be nonsense to deploy any forces there," Abdelatty said during a joint press conference with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa at the Rafah border crossing.
Mustafa outlined plans for Gaza's post-war governance, saying a temporary committee would manage the territory with full authority resting with the Palestinian government. "We're not creating a new political entity in Gaza. Rather, we are reactivating the institutions in the State of Palestine and its government in Gaza," he said.
The UK government announced it is working to bring 30 to 50 critically ill Gazan children to Britain for urgent medical treatment in the coming weeks. Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, said it decided to exclude six companies with connections to the West Bank and Gaza from its portfolio.
The war has created divisions beyond Gaza's borders, with Amnesty International accusing Israel Monday of enacting a "deliberate policy" of starvation in Gaza. Israel has repeatedly rejected such claims while heavily restricting aid deliveries to the territory.
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