Palestinian official says Hamas agrees to Gaza proposal, Israel dismisses it
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Hamas agrees to Gaza proposal, Israel dismisses it
A Palestinian official said Hamas accepted a ceasefire proposal from US envoy Steve Witkoff, but Israel quickly rejected it. The plan called for releasing 10 Israeli hostages in two groups in return for a 70-day ceasefire in Gaza. It included partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of many Palestinian prisoners, some serving long prison terms. Israeli official claimed the proposal was not American and said no responsible Israeli government could agree to such terms.
An Israeli official claimed the proposal was not American and said no responsible Israeli government could agree to such terms.
Witkoff also denied Hamas accepted his plan, saying the deal being discussed was not his and was completely unacceptable.
A source close to Hamas told Reuters the proposal came through mediators and involved hostages and a ceasefire arrangement.
The plan called for releasing 10 Israeli hostages in two groups in return for a 70-day ceasefire in Gaza.
It included partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of many Palestinian prisoners, some serving long prison terms.
An Israeli official dismissed the deal, saying it didn’t match Witkoff’s proposal and could never be accepted by any government.
Later, Netanyahu posted a video saying he hoped to give updates on the war and hostages soon, possibly tomorrow.
His office didn’t immediately comment on the video when asked by journalists for clarification.
On March 18, Israel ended the January ceasefire and restarted its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.
Two days later, Hamas and allied groups launched rockets and resumed attacks against Israeli positions and cities.
Hamas said it’s ready to free all remaining hostages if Israel agrees to a complete and permanent withdrawal from Gaza.
Netanyahu said Israel only supports temporary ceasefire in exchange for hostages and will continue war until Hamas is eliminated.
Israel launched the war after Hamas militants attacked Israeli towns on October 7, killing 1,200 and taking 251 hostages.
According to Gaza health officials, Israel’s air and ground operations have killed almost 54,000 Palestinians so far.
Aid groups reported that widespread hunger and signs of severe malnutrition have emerged in Gaza amid the ongoing conflict.
Hamas said it agreed to US proposal, Witkoff denies terms were offered
Hamas has agreed to the ceasefire proposal forwarded by US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, according to a report in Reuters. The proposal stipulated for 10 hostages to be released for a 70-day cessation in hostilities. This is a change from the previous outline reported, one which Israel has said it would agree to. According to the report, negotiations will continue for a longer calm, contingent on US guarantees.
The proposal stipulated for 10 hostages to be released for a 70-day cessation in hostilities. This is a change from the previous outline reported, one which Israel has said it would agree to, as 10 hostages would be released in the first day of a ceasefire that will extend for 60 days. According to the report, negotiations will continue for a longer calm, contingent on US guarantees.
Witkoff told CNN that this was not what he offered. “What I have seen is completely unacceptable” from Hamas, he said. The offer on the table is for half the living and half the bodies of hostages to be released for a temporary ceasefire, without stating how long this will last. “Israel will agree to a temporary ceasefire/hostage deal that would see half of the living and half of the deceased return and lead to substantive negotiations to find a path to a permanent ceasefire, which I have agreed to preside over,” Witkoff said. “That deal is on the table. Hamas should take it.”
Nonetheless, Hamas’s agreement represents a capitulation, after demanding a full Israeli withdrawal and long-term ceasefire.
“The release of our hostages is our top priority,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after the report. “I really hope we can announce something about this, and if we can’t announce it today, we will announce it tomorrow. We are not giving up.”
A diplomatic source clarified to i24NEWS that this simply meant that Netanyahu we will not give up on the release of our hostages, and if we do not achieve this hopefully in the coming days, we will achieve it later. As of now, Hamas continues to adhere to its refusal, he added.
Palestinian official says Hamas agrees to Gaza proposal, Israel dismisses it
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff also rejected the notion that Hamas had accepted his offer for a hostage deal and a ceasefire in Gaza. Israeli official dismissed the proposal, saying no responsible government could accept such an agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said in a recorded message on social media he “hoped very much” he would be able to deliver developments on the subject of Israel’s fight against Hamas. Israel launched an air and ground war in Gaza after the Hamas-led militants’ cross-border attack, which killed 1,200 people by Israeli tallies, with 251 hostages abducted into Gaza.
CAIRO (Reuters) -A Palestinian official said on Monday that Hamas has agreed to a proposal by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff for a Gaza ceasefire, only for an Israeli official to deny that the proposal was Washington’s and add that no Israeli government could accept it.
Witkoff also rejected the notion that Hamas had accepted his offer for a hostage deal and a ceasefire in Gaza, telling Reuters that what he had seen was “completely unacceptable” and the proposal being discussed was not the same as his.
The Palestinian official, who is close to Hamas, had told Reuters that the proposal would see the release of 10 hostages and a 70-day ceasefire and was received by Hamas through mediators.
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“The proposal includes the release of 10 living Israeli hostages held by Hamas in two groups in return for a 70-day ceasefire and a partial withdrawal from the Gaza Strip,” the source said.
It also included the release of a number of Palestinian prisoners by Israel, including hundreds serving lengthy prison terms.
An Israeli official dismissed the proposal, saying no responsible government could accept such an agreement and rejecting the assertion that the deal matched one proposed by Witkoff.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said in a recorded message on social media he “hoped very much” he would be able to deliver developments on the subject of Israel’s fight against Hamas and releasing the hostages, “today and if not today then we will tomorrow”.
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His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the video.
On March 18, Israel effectively ended a January ceasefire agreement with Hamas and renewed its military campaign in Gaza. Hamas and allied factions began firing rockets and attacks two days later.
Hamas has said it is willing to free all remaining hostages seized by its gunmen in attacks on communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and agree to a permanent ceasefire if Israel pulls out completely from Gaza.
Netanyahu has said Israel would only be willing to agree to a temporary ceasefire in return for the release of hostages, vowing that war can only end once Hamas is eradicated.
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Israel launched an air and ground war in Gaza after the Hamas-led militants’ cross-border attack, which killed 1,200 people by Israeli tallies, with 251 hostages abducted into Gaza.
The conflict has killed nearly 54,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and devastated the coastal strip. Aid groups say signs of severe malnutrition are widespread.
(Reporting by Nidal Al-Mughrabi in Cairo; James Mackenzie in Jerusalem and Steve Holland in Washington; Writing by Menna Alaa El-Din and Tom Perry; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Sophie Walker and Alison Williams)
Gaza aid plan makes faltering start as airstrikes kill dozens
A U.S.-backed foundation tasked with supplying aid to Gaza made a faltering start on Monday, with no clear sign that it had distributed promised supplies. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which intends to use private contractors working under a broad Israeli security umbrella, said it would begin deliveries on Monday. The foundation’s executive director, Jake Wood, announced his resignation on Sunday, saying it could not adhere “to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence” The new operation will rely on four major distribution centres in southern Gaza that will screen families for involvement with Hamas militants, potentially using facial recognition or biometric technology. The aid plan, which has been endorsed by Israel but rejected by the U.N., is unfolding amid fierce Israeli attacks on the enclave, including on a school building where dozens of Palestinians sheltering inside were killed. Israeli authorities last week allowed a trickle of aid into the Palestinian enclave for the first time since March. But the few hundred trucks carried only a tiny fraction of the food needed.
Item 1 of 2 Palestinians inspect the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an Israeli strike, in Gaza City, May 26, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo
Summary Head of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it cannot ensure principles of impartiality, independence
Palestinian official says Hamas agreed to a truce proposal, Israel dismisses it
Foundation preparing to begin aid operation aiming to reach 1 million people by end of week
Germany says Israeli attacks no longer justifiable as battle against Hamas
JERUSALEM/CAIRO, May 26 (Reuters) – A U.S.-backed foundation tasked with supplying aid to Gaza made a faltering start on Monday, with no clear sign that it had distributed promised supplies, a day after its chief unexpectedly stepped down.
The aid plan, which has been endorsed by Israel but rejected by the U.N. , is unfolding amid fierce Israeli attacks on the enclave, including on a school building where dozens of Palestinians sheltering inside were killed.
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With food still critically short after a nearly three-month blockade, Washington says it is working to restore a ceasefire more than 19 months into the war, but progress is elusive.
A Palestinian official said Hamas had agreed to a U.S. proposal for a truce and the release of 10 Israeli hostages, but an Israeli official dismissed the proposal as unacceptable, denying it was Washington’s.
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff rejected reports that Hamas had agreed to his proposal, telling Reuters that what he has seen is “completely unacceptable.”
Israel has faced a mounting international outcry this month, including from Western allies, as it launched a new offensive in Gaza, already largely destroyed by Israeli bombardment and where the population of 2 million is at risk of famine
Close ally Germany said Israel’s recent attacks in Gaza were inflicting a toll on civilians that could no longer be justified as a fight against Hamas, which ignited the war with its cross-border Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Israeli authorities last week allowed a trickle of aid into the Palestinian enclave for the first time since March. But the few hundred trucks carried only a tiny fraction of the food needed.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which intends to use private contractors working under a broad Israeli security umbrella, said it would begin deliveries on Monday, with the aim of reaching one million Palestinians by the end of the week.
“We plan to scale up rapidly to serve the full population in the weeks ahead,” it said in a statement.
Israeli media showed photos of aid pallets lined up in the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah alongside empty tables which appeared to be set up to aid distribution. The foundation and the relevant Israeli officials did not answer requests for comment.
Palestinians said they had seen no sign of any aid distribution on Monday by the new company.
The foundation’s executive director, Jake Wood, announced his resignation on Sunday, saying it could not adhere “to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence”.
The Switzerland-registered foundation has been heavily criticised by the United Nations, whose officials have said the private company’s aid distribution plans are insufficient for reaching the more than two million Gazans.
The new operation will rely on four major distribution centres in southern Gaza that will screen families for involvement with Hamas militants, potentially using facial recognition or biometric technology, according to aid officials.
But many details of how the operation will work remain unexplained, and it was not immediately clear whether aid groups that have refused to cooperate with the foundation would still be able to send in trucks.
Hamas condemned the new system, saying it would “replace order with chaos, enforce a policy of engineered starvation of Palestinian civilians, and use food as a weapon during wartime”.
Israel says the system is aimed at separating aid from Hamas, which it accuses of stealing and using food to impose control over the population, a charge rejected by Hamas, which says it protects aid convoys from gangs of armed looters.
‘NO SECURITY OR SAFETY’
Israeli strikes killed at least 45 people on Monday, local health authorities said.
In Gaza City, medics said, 30 Palestinians, including displaced women and children who were seeking shelter in a school, were killed in an airstrike. Images shared widely on social media showed what appeared to be badly burned bodies being pulled from the rubble.
Israel’s military confirmed that it had targeted the school. It said that the building was being used as a centre by Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants to plan and organise attacks.
Farah Nussair, who survived the attack, said “just the tired ones” who needed food and water were in the school.
She added, a child in her lap: “We fled to the south, they bombed us in the south. We returned to the north, they bombed us in the north. We came to schools …. There is no security or safety, neither at schools, nor hospitals – not anywhere.”
Israel’s military said it used precise weapons, surveillance and other steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians. It did not provide evidence that the school was being used by militants.
Another strike on a house in Jabalia, adjacent to Gaza City, killed at least 15 other people, medics said.
Sweden said it would summon Israel’s ambassador in Stockholm over the humanitarian aid situation in Gaza.
Israel stepped up military operations in the enclave in early May, saying it is seeking to eliminate Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and bring back remaining hostages.
The campaign, which Netanyahu has said will end with Israel in complete control of Gaza, has squeezed the population into an ever-narrowing zone in coastal areas and around the southern city of Khan Younis.
The Israeli campaign, triggered after Hamas-led Islamist militants stormed Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, has devastated Gaza and pushed nearly all of its residents from their homes.
The offensive has killed more than 53,000 people in Gaza, many of them civilians, according to its health authorities.
Reporting by Nidal Al Mughrabi; Louise Breusch Rasmussen in Copenhagen; James Mackenzie in Jerusalem; Ludwig Burger; Steve Holland in Washington; writing by Yomna Ehab, James Mackenzie and Tom Perry; editing by Tom Hogue, Lincoln Feast, Mark Heinrich, Philippa Fletcher
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