CAIRO: A senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said on Tuesday that the Palestinian group was open to discussing a deal to end the ongoing war in Gaza and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory, Reuters news agency reported.
In a televised speech, Abu Zuhri said Hamas is studying new proposals from international mediators, emphasizing that any agreement must secure a permanent ceasefire, relieve the suffering in Gaza, and ensure Israel’s complete military withdrawal.
“The movement has confirmed it is open to any deal or ideas that ends the suffering of our people in Gaza, achieves a permanent ceasefire, and ensures the occupation’s withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip,” Abu Zuhri stated.
The Hamas official further clarified that the deal must also end the Israeli blockade on Gaza, enable unrestricted delivery of humanitarian aid, support reconstruction efforts, and include a swap of Israeli hostages in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
The statement aligns with Hamas’s established conditions for any truce, as reiterated by Abu Zuhri, though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed that the military campaign would only cease if Hamas is fully eradicated.
Meanwhile, Qatari officials confirmed their ongoing mediation efforts, working alongside the United States and Egypt to facilitate a potential ceasefire agreement. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said that mediation efforts would continue.
Al-Ansari said Qatar will work as a mediator along with US President Joe Biden’s administration “until the last minute” before the November 5 presidential election to reach a Gaza ceasefire deal.
“We don’t foresee any negative impact of the elections on the mediation process. In the US, institutions are committed to finding a resolution to this crisis,” said Al-Ansari.
Earlier, CIA Director Bill Burns floated an agreement for a 28-day Gaza truce, the freeing of around eight captives by Hamas and the release of dozens of Palestinian prisoners by Israel, the Axios news site reports.
According to media reports, Burns has discussed the idea during a meeting on Sunday with Qatari and Israeli counterparts.
Saudi Arabia’s cabinet has highlighted the serious threat posed by the ongoing Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip to both regional and international security and underscored the urgency of an immediate ceasefire, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Tuesday.
At least 93 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed and around 40 are still missing after an overnight Israeli air strike on a residential building in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, Gaza’s Civil Defence Agency said on Tuesday.
The agency’s spokesperson, Mahmud Bassal, declared the attack an Israeli massacre and said, “The number of martyrs in the massacre of the Abu Nasr family home in Beit Lahia has risen to 93 martyrs, and about 40 are still missing under the rubble.”
The Emergency Service said that many victims were believed to still be trapped under the debris.
The health ministry in Gaza said that, as of Tuesday, at least 43,061 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in the ongoing Israeli bombardments since October 7, 2023, with 101,223 people wounded across the Gaza Strip. During the last 24-hour at least 41 people have been killed in Gaza.
Earlier, on Monday, the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service stated that about 100,000 people were stranded in Jabalia, Beit Lahia as well as Beit Hanoun without food or medical supplies.
The emergency service stated that its operations had come to a stop because of the three-week Israeli strike into northern Gaza.
Earlier, the chief of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) stated that Israel’s decision to ban his organization increases the miseries and suffering of Palestinians and is “nothing less than collective punishment”.
In a statement, the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed concerns over the decision of Israel and stated it is “concerned regarding the humanitarian, legal and political implications of the decision.
UN Secretary-General also slammed Israel’s ‘unacceptable’ ban on UNRWA. Antonio Guterres stated that he was deeply concerned by Israel’s legislation banning UNRWA, saying that the implementation of these decisions would be “harmful” to the resolution of the Palestinian-Israel conflict.
In a statement, the UN Secretary-General said that there is no alternative to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. In a statement, Australia has also opposed Israel’s decision about the UNRWA ban. Jordan termed the ban as illegal and invalid.
Meanwhile, Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian territories, reiterated accusations of “genocide” against Israel. Albanese’s report, dated October 1, claims that Israel’s military actions reflect an “organized forced displacement and replacement” of Palestinians.
Albanese said that Israeli policies amounted to “systematic racial segregation and apartheid.” She further alleged that the conflict supports Israel’s “political ambitions for sovereignty” over all of what was previously Mandatory Palestine.
“The Gaza genocide is a tragedy foretold, and one that risks expanding to other Palestinians under Israeli rule,” Albanese wrote in the report.
“Since its establishment, Israel has treated the occupied people as a hated encumbrance and threat to be eradicated, subjecting millions of Palestinians, for generations, to everyday indignities, mass killing, mass incarceration, forced displacement, racial segregation and apartheid,” the report conclusion read.
