Philadelphia Independent - Hamas signals rejection of Israel's latest truce proposal

The comment by the Palestinian militants' chief negotiator came after civil defence rescuers in Gaza said a rash of Israeli air strikes killed at least 40 people, most of them in encampments for displaced civilians, as Israel pressed its offensive in the Palestinian territory.

The Israeli military said it was looking into reports of the strikes.

A senior Hamas official had said Israel last weekend proposed a new 45-day ceasefire through mediators that would include the release of 10 living hostages.

It also called for the freeing of 1,231 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and the entry of humanitarian aid into the territory, which has been under complete blockade since March 2.

The proposal also called for Hamas to disarm to secure a complete end to the war, a demand the group rejects.

"Partial agreements are used by (Israeli Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu as a cover for his political agenda... we will not be complicit in this policy," Hamas's chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, said in a televised statement.

He said the group "seeks a comprehensive deal involving a single-package prisoner exchange in return for halting the war, a withdrawal of the occupation from the Gaza Strip, and the commencement of reconstruction" in the territory.

A previous ceasefire and hostage release deal began on January 19 but collapsed two months later.

Israel had sought to extend the first phase, while Hamas insisted that negotiations be held for the second phase under the deal, as outlined by former US president Joe Biden.

Israel resumed intensive bombing of Gaza on March 18.

- Qatar blames Israel -

The leader of Qatar, which along with Egypt and the US helped mediate the January ceasefire, blamed Israel on Thursday for its collapse.

"As you know, we reached an agreement months ago, but unfortunately Israel did not abide by this agreement," Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said during a visit to Moscow.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said two Israeli missiles hit several tents in the Al-Mawasi area of the southern city of Khan Yunis, resulting in at least 16 deaths, "most of them women and children, and 23 others were wounded".

After Israel declared Al-Mawasi a safe zone in December 2023, tens of thousands of Palestinians flocked there seeking refuge from bombardment, but the area has since been hit by repeated Israeli strikes.

Survivors described a large explosion at the densely packed encampment zone that set multiple tents ablaze.

"We were sitting peacefully in the tent, under God's protection, when we suddenly saw something red glowing -- and then the tent exploded, and the surrounding tents caught fire," Israa Abu al-Rus told AFP.

Bassal said Israeli strikes on two other encampments of displaced Gazans killed a further nine people -- seven in the northern town of Beit Lahia, and a father and son near Al-Mawasi.

The military later announced it had carried out a strike in Jabalia on what it said was a Hamas "command and control" centre.

Israel said Wednesday that it had converted 30 percent of Gaza into a buffer zone in its widening offensive.

The United Nations said half a million Palestinians have been displaced since the offensive resumed, triggering what it has described as the most severe humanitarian crisis since the war began with Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

- Red Cross base -

Hamas accused Israel on Thursday of attempting to starve Gaza's 2.4 million people after Katz said the day before that Israel would continue preventing aid from entering the territory.

"This is a public admission of committing a war crime," the group said in a statement.

Medical supplies, fuel, water and other essentials are in short supply, the UN says.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, said it was "outraged" that an explosive hit one of its bases in Gaza on Wednesday, the second such strike in three weeks.

Israel's renewed assault has so far killed at least 1,691 people in Gaza, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory reported, bringing the overall toll since the war erupted to 51,065, most of them civilians.

Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

R.Walker--PI