Hamas gives 'initial' approval to plan for Gaza fighting pause
By Agencies |
Hamas has given its "initial" approval to a planned humanitarian pause in its war with Israel and a hostage-prisoner exchange.
Hamas has given its "initial" approval to a planned humanitarian pause in its war with Israel and a hostage-prisoner exchange, Qatar said Thursday, as fighting raged in the Gaza Strip.
However, a source close to Hamas told AFP there was no agreement yet on the proposal.
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The meeting in Paris succeeded in consolidating the proposals...," Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said of talks Qatari, US, Israeli and Egyptian officials had on Sunday.
"That proposal has been approved by the Israeli side and now we have an initial positive confirmation from the Hamas' side."
Mediators pushed ahead with peace efforts as fighting raged in Gaza and as Qatar-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was expected in Cairo for talks on Thursday or Friday.
Ansari said there were hopes of "good news" about a new pause in the fighting "in the next couple of weeks".
But the source close to Hamas said Thursday: "There is no agreement on the framework of the agreement yet -- the factions have important observations -- and the Qatari statement is rushed and not true."
Hamas has been reviewing a proposal for a six-week pause and a hostage-prisoner exchange, a Hamas source had told AFP after the Paris meeting.
According to the health ministry in Gaza, 119 people were killed in israeli strikes overnight.
The UN also reported heavy bombardment across Gaza, particularly in Khan Yunis, and said 184,000 more Palestinians from the city had registered for humanitarian assistance.
More than 30,000 displaced people in schools around the city's Nasser hospital face a lack of food, water, medicine and baby formula, health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.
"We have nothing to eat, nothing to drink... we have nothing here but fear," a woman at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City told AFPTV. "People are scared. We demand a ceasefire."
Story compiled by AFP.
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