{"id":158097,"date":"2025-08-19T09:57:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T09:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/158097\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T09:57:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T09:57:19","slug":"hamas-accepts-an-arab-ceasefire-proposal-on-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/158097\/","title":{"rendered":"Hamas accepts an Arab ceasefire proposal on Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

RAFAH, Egypt (AP) \u2014 Hamas said Monday it has accepted a new proposal from Arab mediators for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip<\/a> as Israel indicated its positions haven\u2019t changed, while Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll from 22 months of war has passed 62,000.<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to cast doubt on the long-running negotiations that Washington has mediated as well. \u201cWe will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!! The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be,\u201d he posted on social media.<\/p>\n

Egyptian Foreign Minister Bader Abdelattay said on Monday that his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani arrived in Cairo and joined talks on restarting ceasefire negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.<\/p>\n

Israel announced plans to reoccupy Gaza City<\/a> and other heavily populated areas after ceasefire talks appeared to break down<\/a> last month, raising the possibility of a worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which experts say is sliding into famine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Plans to expand the offensive, in part aimed at pressuring Hamas, have sparked international outrage and infuriated many Israelis who fear for the remaining hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that started the war. Hundreds of thousands took part in mass protests on Sunday<\/a> calling for their return.<\/p>\n

Egypt says Witkoff invited to join talks<\/p>\n

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said mediators are \u201cexerting extensive efforts\u201d to revive a U.S. proposal for a 60-day ceasefire, during which some of the remaining 50 hostages would be released and the sides would negotiate a lasting ceasefire and the return of the rest.<\/p>\n

Abdelatty told The Associated Press they are inviting U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to join the ceasefire talks.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Palestinian<\/p>\n

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, left on podium, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, center on podium, attend a press conference during their visit to Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (AP Photo\/Mayar Mokhtar)<\/p>\n

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, left on podium, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, center on podium, attend a press conference during their visit to Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (AP Photo\/Mayar Mokhtar)<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

\"Palestinian<\/p>\n

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, right, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, second right, visit Palestinian Mohammed Abu Dakkah, from Gaza Strip, who receives medical care at Arish hospital, in Arish, Egypt, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (AP Photo\/Mohamed Arafat)<\/p>\n

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, right, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, second right, visit Palestinian Mohammed Abu Dakkah, from Gaza Strip, who receives medical care at Arish hospital, in Arish, Egypt, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (AP Photo\/Mohamed Arafat)<\/p>\n

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Abdelatty spoke to journalists during a visit to Egypt\u2019s Rafah crossing with Gaza, which has not functioned since Israel seized the Palestinian side in May 2024. He was accompanied by Mohammad Mustafa, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, which has been largely sidelined since the war began.<\/p>\n

Abdelatty said Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani had joined the talks, which include senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, who arrived in Cairo last week. Abdelatty said they are open to other ideas, including for a comprehensive deal<\/a> that would release all the hostages at once.<\/p>\n

Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official, told the AP that the militant group had accepted the proposal introduced by the mediators, without elaborating.<\/p>\n

An Egyptian official, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the talks, said the proposal includes changes to Israel\u2019s pullback of its forces and guarantees for negotiations on a lasting ceasefire during the initial truce. The official said it is almost identical to an earlier proposal accepted by Israel, which has not yet joined the latest talks.<\/p>\n

Diaa Rashwan, head of the Egypt State Information Service, told the AP that Egypt and Qatar have sent the Hamas-accepted proposal to Israel.<\/p>\n

An Israeli official said Israel\u2019s positions, including on the release of all hostages, had not changed from previous rounds of talks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas has been disarmed, and to maintain lasting security control<\/a> over Gaza. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu said in a video addressing the Israeli public that reports of Hamas\u2019 acceptance of the proposal showed that it is \u201cunder massive pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Palestinian death toll surpasses 62,000<\/p>\n

Hamas-led militants abducted 251 people and killed around 1,200, mostly civilians, in the attack that ignited the war. Around 20 of the hostages still in Gaza are believed by Israel to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals.<\/p>\n

Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry<\/a> said the Palestinian death toll from the war had climbed to 62,004, with another 156,230 people wounded. It does not say how many were civilians or combatants, but says women and children make up around half the dead.<\/p>\n

\"Smoke<\/p>\n

\n Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli army airstrike in Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (AP Photo\/Mariam Dagga)\n <\/p>\n

Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli army airstrike in Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (AP Photo\/Mariam Dagga)<\/p>\n

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\"Israeli<\/p>\n

\n Israeli soldiers stand on the top of a tank parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (AP Photo\/Maya Levin)\n <\/p>\n

Israeli soldiers stand on the top of a tank parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (AP Photo\/Maya Levin)<\/p>\n

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The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties. Israel disputes its toll but has not provided its own.<\/p>\n

The ministry said 1,965 people have been killed while seeking humanitarian aid since May, either in the chaos around U.N. convoys or while heading to sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed American contractor.<\/p>\n

Witnesses, health officials and the U.N. human rights office say Israeli forces have repeatedly fired toward crowds seeking aid. Israel says it has only fired warning shots at people who approached its forces. GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired into the air on rare occasions to prevent deadly crowding.<\/p>\n

More deaths linked to malnutrition<\/p>\n

Experts have warned that Israel\u2019s ongoing offensive is pushing Gaza toward famine<\/a>, even after it eased a complete 2 1\/2-month blockade on the territory in May. Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry said Monday that five more people, including two children, died of malnutrition-related causes.<\/p>\n

It says at least 112 children have died of malnutrition-related causes since the war began, and 151 adults have died since the ministry started tracking adult malnutrition deaths in June.<\/p>\n

Amnesty International on Monday accused Israel of \u201ccarrying out a deliberate campaign of starvation.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Egyptian<\/p>\n

Egyptian Red Crecent members prepare humanitarian aid at their warehouse in the logistical center supporting Gaza, at Sheikh Zuweid, Egypt, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (AP Photo\/Mayar Mokhtar)<\/p>\n

Egyptian Red Crecent members prepare humanitarian aid at their warehouse in the logistical center supporting Gaza, at Sheikh Zuweid, Egypt, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (AP Photo\/Mayar Mokhtar)<\/p>\n

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Israel has rejected such allegations, saying it allows in enough food and accusing the U.N. of failing to promptly deliver it. U.N. agencies say they are hindered by Israeli restrictions and the breakdown of law and order in the territory, around three-quarters of which is now controlled by Israel. <\/p>\n

The U.N. World Food Program said Monday that U.N. partner organizations reported that community kitchens in north and south Gaza produced 380,000 daily meals daily last week \u2014 far fewer than the more than 1 million daily meals they produced in April. ___<\/p>\n

Magdy reported from Cairo and Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Edith Lederer at the United Nations and Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia contributed to this report. <\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow AP\u2019s war coverage at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/israel-hamas-war<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RAFAH, Egypt (AP) \u2014 Hamas said Monday it has accepted a new proposal from Arab mediators for a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":158098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[97,3881,50803,60812,372,69,4526,57,4527,15127,3497,3464,99,3462,373,91870,3463,91871,91872,50,9598,13226,1206,96,103,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-158097","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-2024-2025-mideast-wars","9":"tag-ap-top-news","10":"tag-badr-abdelatty","11":"tag-bassem-naim","12":"tag-benjamin-netanyahu","13":"tag-donald-trump","14":"tag-gaza-strip","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-hamas","17":"tag-hostage-situations","18":"tag-humanitarian-crises","19":"tag-international-agreements","20":"tag-israel","21":"tag-israel-government","22":"tag-israel-hamas-war","23":"tag-khalil-al-haya","24":"tag-mideast-wars","25":"tag-mohammad-mustafa","26":"tag-mohammed-bin-rashid-al-maktoum","27":"tag-news","28":"tag-palestinian-territories-government","29":"tag-steve-witkoff","30":"tag-united-nations","31":"tag-war-and-unrest","32":"tag-world","33":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115054840876367083","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}