An impending Rafah offensive has Hamas examining an Israeli proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza.

There has been growing international pressure for Hamas and Israel to reach an agreement on a cease-fire and avert a possible Israeli attack on Rafah.

There has been growing international pressure for Hamas and Israel to reach an agreement on a cease-fire and avert a possible Israeli attack on Rafah.

s. Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya stated that Israel’s offer was in response to a proposal made by Hamas two weeks prior, although he did not provide any specifics about it. Negotiations earlier this month centered on a six-week cease-fire proposal and the release of 40 civilian and sick hostages in exchange for freeing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jail

Hours after a high-level Egyptian delegation concluded its visit to Israel, where it deliberated on a “new vision” for an extended cease-fire in Gaza, Hamas released their statement, according to an Egyptian official who talked freely about the proceedings under condition of anonymity.

It wasn’t immediately apparent if Israel’s latest proposal had anything to do with the Egyptian mediators’ visit on Friday.

The first phase of a multiphase plan that would include a limited exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners and the return of a sizable number of displaced Palestinians to their homes in northern Gaza “with minimum restrictions” were the main topics of discussion between Egyptian and Israeli officials, according to the Egyptian official.

The official stated that the mediators were working on a compromise that would address the majority of the demands made by both parties. This might open the door to further discussions aimed at reaching a more comprehensive agreement to stop the war.

More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have sought safety in Rafah after escaping violence elsewhere in the territory, and there has been increasing international pressure on Hamas and Israel to agree on a cease-fire in order to prevent an Israeli attack on the city.

urging months, Israel has insisted on going forward with its planned ground offensive into Rafah, on the Egyptian border, where it claims many of the last Hamas fighters are holed up. This is despite demands from the international community, including the United States, Israel’s most ardent supporter, urging moderation.

Egypt has issued a warning that an attack on Rafah may have “catastrophic consequences” for the peace and security of the region as well as for the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where hunger is expected.

Near Rafah in southern Israel, the Israeli military has gathered hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles and has been conducting almost daily bombings on various parts of the city.

According to documents from the morgue of the Abu Yousef al-Najjar hospital, an Israeli attack on a home in Rafah’s Tel Sultan area early on Saturday killed a man, his wife, and their three boys, ages 12, 10, and 8. According to the records, a 4-month-old girl who lived next door was also killed.

After the 1:30 a.m. attack, Ahmed Omar and other adjacent residents hurried to the house to search for survivors, but they only discovered bodies and body parts, according to Omar.

It’s tragic, he declared.

According to representatives at the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, five more individuals perished overnight when an Israeli strike struck a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

In another incident, the military reported that two Palestinian individuals were shot and killed by Israeli soldiers during a gunfight at a checkpoint in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. According to the report, the guys were slain after they opened fire on soldiers stationed at the Salem checkpoint, which is close to the Palestinian city of Jenin, from a car.

Since the beginning of the war, violence in the West Bank has increased. According to the Health Ministry in Ramallah, 491 Palestinians have died as a result of Israeli firing in the territory during that time.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is scheduled to visit Israel on Tuesday, has expressed disapproval of Israeli policy in the West Bank. He recently discovered that an army unit had violated human rights in the region prior to the Gaza War.

However, Blinken stated that he is delaying his decision to stop funding to the unit in order to allow Israel more time to make amends in an undated letter to U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson that The Associated Press was able to get on Friday.

Blinken emphasized in the letter that the U.S. State Department’s final decision regarding the unit will not have an impact on overall military support provided by the United States to Israel for its defense against Hamas and other threats.

Additionally, the United States has been constructing a pier via which aid will be delivered to Gaza via a new port, which an official stated last week will likely be operational by early May.

The Biden administration has made it clear that the mission will not involve American soldiers on the ground. But according to the BBC on Saturday, which cited unnamed government sources, the British government was thinking of sending military to operate the vehicles that would deliver the aid to the coast. Regarding the report, British officials chose not to comment.

Hamas declared on Friday that it was receptive to any “ideas or suggestions” that took the interests of the Palestinian people into account. The group has declared that it will not back down from its demands for an Israeli soldier pullout and a permanent cease-fire. Both have been rejected by Israel, which has declared that it will keep up military operations in Gaza until Hamas is vanquished and then maintain a security presence there.

While demonstrations against the war are still going on in many other countries, student protests against it are starting to appear on an increasing number of US college campuses.

With their invasion into southern Israel on October 7, during which militants killed over 1,200 people—mostly civilians—and kidnapped about 250 others, Hamas ignited the conflict. According to Israel, the terrorists still have the bodies of around thirty hostages and almost one hundred hostages.

According to the Health Ministry of Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, over 34,000 Palestinians have died as a result of Israel’s air and ground offensive; women and children make up over two thirds of the dead. Its tally does not differentiate between fighters and civilians. According to the ministry, 32 victims of Israeli strikes died and were sent to nearby hospitals in the last 24 hours.

Israel accuses Hamas of infiltrating residential areas and is to responsible for civilian casualties. At least 260 troops have reportedly died in Israel since ground operations began.