Israel has “more or less accepted” a proposal for a six-week ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for a release of vulnerable hostages, an official told the Associated Press (AP).
The framework is dependent on Hamas’ acceptance of the deal, the official told the AP.
“Right now, the ball is in the court of Hamas and we are continuing to push this as hard as we possibly can,” the source said, the AP reported.
Senior administration official on HOSTAGE DEAL talks:
“Right now, the ball is in the court of Hamas.”
Says the framework is there.
Israel has “basically” signed on to the elements.
It is six-week ceasefire.
With release of hostages: specifically, the sick, elderly, women.— Kellie Meyer (@KellieMeyerNews) March 2, 2024
The Biden administration wants to see a ceasefire agreed to before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts March 10, the AP reported. (RELATED: REPORT: Hamas Claims Seven Hostages Were Killed)
Mediators from the U.S., Egypt and Qatar met Feb. 23 in Paris to discuss initial terms, according to Axios. They reportedly started laying out the framework for this deal at that meeting.
The news breaks just one day after the U.S. supplied its first air drop of food aid to Gaza in the wake of Hamas’ October 7th attack which reportedly killed 1,163 people in Israel.
Human rights organizations warn that a quarter of Gaza’s 576,000 residents are at imminent risk of famine as many aid trucks are immediately looted upon arrival, according to the AP.
Dozens of Gazans were killed during a Thursday aid delivery. Israel claims the majority of the deaths resulted from “overcrowding, crowding and trampling.”
Palestinian officials rebuked that claim, with a state-run media outlet issuing a statement claiming, “The heinous massacre carried out by the Israeli occupation tanks and artillery this morning against hundreds of innocent civilians who were waiting for the arrival of aid trucks … resulted in the killing of over 104 persons.”
An Israeli official stated there was a separate incident near the aid trucks in which Israeli soldiers “fired warning shots in the air and then fired towards those who posed a threat and did not move away.