GAZA STRIP (News Wires) – The first ship carrying food aid reached the coast of the Gaza Strip on Friday, where hopes for a ceasefire to rescue the population from starvation suffered a new blow after Israel rejected the latest truce counter-proposal from Hamas.
The war began with an attack by Hamas Islamist fighters from Gaza who killed 1,200 people and seized 253 hostages in Israel on Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, an Israeli assault has killed more than 31,000 people and driven nearly the entire 2.3 million population of Gaza from their homes.
Hamas presented mediators with its latest counter-offer for a weeks-long ceasefire, but this was rejected by Israel, which said it was based on “unrealistic demands”.
Like earlier offers from both sides over the past two months of talks, the Hamas proposal, reviewed by Reuters, envisions the release of dozens of Israeli hostages in return for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
But it also calls for talks during a second phase that would eventually lead to the end of the war. Israel has persistently said it will discuss only temporary pauses in the fighting and will not discuss ending the war until Hamas is eradicated.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, told Reuters Israel’s rejection showed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “determined to pursue the aggression against our people and undermine all efforts exerted to reach a ceasefire agreement”.
It was up to Washington to push its ally Israel to accept a ceasefire, he said.
U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators had hoped to reach a ceasefire in time for the Ramadan Muslim holy month, but that deadline passed this week.
The United Nations says all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are suffering from a food crisis and a quarter of them are on the precipice of famine, especially in the north.
Israel, which sealed off all land routes into Gaza apart from two crossings on the territory’s southern edge, denies blame for hunger and says aid agencies should do a better job distributing food. The agencies say they need better access and security, both of which are the responsibility of Israeli forces who have blockaded the strip and stormed its cities.
