Hamas Accepts Ceasefire Proposal

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken was due to travel to Egypt on Tuesday for talks on a Gaza ceasefire after saying Israel had accepted a US "bridging proposal" for a deal and urging Hamas to do the same.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged Hamas to accept a US bridging proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal after what he said was a "very constructive" meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Hamas will not accept "new conditions" from Israel in a proposal put forward during talks in Doha aimed at sealing a ceasefire and hostage release in the Gaza war, officials told AFP on Friday.

A Palestinian prisoners watchdog said Tuesday that a man shot dead by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank the previous day had been freed during the November truce in the Gaza war.

Hamas is waiting for a response from Israel on its ceasefire proposal, two officials from the Palestinian group said on Sunday, five days after it accepted a key part of a U.S. plan aimed at ending the nine-month-old war in Gaza.

Hamas on Monday said it had accepted a proposal for a truce in the seven-month-old war in Gaza, after Israel told Palestinians in Rafah to evacuate ahead of a long-threatened invasion of the city.

Hamas seems to have rejected a proposed framework for a hostage deal with Israel, asserting it will not accept any agreement if the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from Gaza is not included, The Times of Israel reported.

Palestinian negotiators on Sunday said they had accepted an Egyptian proposal for a new 72-hour truce with Israel, clearing the way for a possible resumption of talks on a long-term cease-fire arrangement in the Gaza Strip.

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday again placed the onus on Hamas to accept a ceasefire along the lines of an Egyptian proposal to end the conflict raging in Gaza.

The Islamist Hamas movement said Sunday it had accepted a proposal for a three-hour humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza it said was made by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Arab foreign ministers in Cairo early on Tuesday called on "all parties" to accept an Egyptian proposal to end the raging conflict between Israel and Hamas, after the Palestinian militant group signalled its rejection of the truce.

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken was due to travel to Egypt on Tuesday for talks on a Gaza ceasefire after saying Israel had accepted a US "bridging proposal" for a deal and urging Hamas to do the same.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged Hamas to accept a US bridging proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal after what he said was a "very constructive" meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Hamas will not accept "new conditions" from Israel in a proposal put forward during talks in Doha aimed at sealing a ceasefire and hostage release in the Gaza war, officials told AFP on Friday.

A Palestinian prisoners watchdog said Tuesday that a man shot dead by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank the previous day had been freed during the November truce in the Gaza war.

Hamas is waiting for a response from Israel on its ceasefire proposal, two officials from the Palestinian group said on Sunday, five days after it accepted a key part of a U.S. plan aimed at ending the nine-month-old war in Gaza.

Hamas on Monday said it had accepted a proposal for a truce in the seven-month-old war in Gaza, after Israel told Palestinians in Rafah to evacuate ahead of a long-threatened invasion of the city.

Hamas seems to have rejected a proposed framework for a hostage deal with Israel, asserting it will not accept any agreement if the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from Gaza is not included, The Times of Israel reported.

Palestinian negotiators on Sunday said they had accepted an Egyptian proposal for a new 72-hour truce with Israel, clearing the way for a possible resumption of talks on a long-term cease-fire arrangement in the Gaza Strip.

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday again placed the onus on Hamas to accept a ceasefire along the lines of an Egyptian proposal to end the conflict raging in Gaza.

The Islamist Hamas movement said Sunday it had accepted a proposal for a three-hour humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza it said was made by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Arab foreign ministers in Cairo early on Tuesday called on "all parties" to accept an Egyptian proposal to end the raging conflict between Israel and Hamas, after the Palestinian militant group signalled its rejection of the truce.