Hamas said it gave a “positive” response to our ceasefire proposal, but requires more talk

Hamas said on Friday it had a “positive” response to the latest proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, but said further negotiations are needed.

It is unclear whether Hamas's statement means it has accepted a proposal from U.S. President Donald Trump to conduct a 60-day ceasefire. Militant groups have been seeking assurance that an initial truce with Israel would lead to the end of the war, and are now nearly 21 months old.

Trump has been working to reach a deal, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit the White House next week to discuss the deal.

Hamas' statement was released after the Israeli air strikes killed 15 Palestinians in Gaza earlier Friday, while a hospital said another 20 people died in the shooting while seeking aid.

The UN Human Rights Office said that while trying to obtain assistance, 613 Palestinians have been recorded in Gaza within a month. It said most people were killed while trying to reach food distribution sites run by Israel-backed U.S. organizations, while others were waiting heavily for aid trucks related to the United Nations or other humanitarian organizations.

Try to stop the war

Trump said on Tuesday that Israel has agreed to a 60-day ceasefire clause in Gaza, during which the United States will “work with all parties to end the war.” He urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen.

Hamas said in a statement late Friday that it “had made a positive response to Egypt and Kathari mediators”.

It said, “It is ready for an immediate round of negotiations on the mechanisms to implement the framework.” It did not elaborate on the issues that need to be addressed in implementation.

Officials close to the negotiations said Hamas had several problems – Israeli forces in Gaza withdrew their March 2 post before breaking the previous ceasefire. Through the United Nations and other international humanitarian agencies, this help flows into Gaza in a sufficient number; and, if necessary, negotiations will continue for more than 60 days to reach an agreement to achieve a permanent end to the war and release all remaining hostages held in Gaza.

Previous negotiations have stranded Hamas’ demand that further negotiations would lead to the end of the war, while Netanyahu insisted that Israel would resume fighting to ensure the destruction of militant groups.

“We will see what happens. We will know within the next 24 hours,” Trump told Air Force reporters when asked late Thursday whether Hamas agreed to the latest framework for the ceasefire.

Killed Friday while seeking aid

At least three Palestinians were killed Friday while traveling to a food distribution location run by the U.S. and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in southern Gaza, officials at Khan Younis said.

Eyewitnesses have said almost every day that Israeli troops opened fire on Palestinian crowds on the road to the food center since the GHF began distribution in late May. To reach these locations, people have to cross several kilometers of military-controlled roads in Israel.

The Israeli military has said it had previously fired warning shots to control crowds or Palestinians approaching the troops. The GHF denied any serious injury or death at its site and said shootings nearby were within the scope of Israeli troops.

In response to the UN Rights Agency report on Friday, in response to the UN Rights Agency's report, it said in a statement that it was investigating reports of killing and injured while seeking aid and directed the troops on the scene based on “learnings learned” from the review of the incident. It said it is working to “minimize friction between populations” and Israeli forces, including installing fences and placing signs on routes.

Witnesses said Israeli forces had opened fire on large numbers of Palestinians who gathered in military-controlled areas waiting for AIDS trucks entering Gaza for UN or other GHF-related aid organizations. The crowd is usually composed of people of eager food that robs of supplies from passing trucks and armed gangs plunder the trucks.

Officials at Nasser Hospital said 17 people awaiting trucks were killed on Friday in Khan Younis, Talia region.

Three survivors told the Associated Press that they went to trucks in the military “red zone” of Khan Younis, while troops opened fire from tanks and drones.

Seddiq Abu Farhana said it was “a group of people, may God help them, they want to eat and live.” “There is a direct fire.”

The air strikes also hit the Muwasi area on the southern end of the Mediterranean coast of Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians drive from their homes in tent camps. According to the hospital, eight of the 15 people killed in the strike were women and one child.

The Israeli military said it was studying the report on Friday. It did not immediately comment on the shootings around the aid truck.

United Nations Investigates Shooting Near Aid Site

Ravina Sharmdasani, a spokesman for the UN Human Rights Office, said the agency could not attribute the responsibility for the killing. But she said: “It is obvious that the Israeli military has fired and fired at Palestinians who are trying to reach the distribution point.”

Sharmdasani said in a message to the Associated Press that 509 kills were counted for GHF, meaning at or near its distribution location.

GHF expressed suspicion of casualties in a statement Friday, accusing the UN of casualties “directly from Hamas-controlled Gaza’s Ministry of Health” and attempting to “erroneously erase our efforts.”

Sharmdasani told the Associated Press that the data “is based on information we collect through a variety of reliable sources, including health care, human rights and humanitarian organizations.”

Rik Peeperkorn, a representative of the World Health Organization in the Palestinian Territory, said Nasser Hospital is the largest hospital operated in southern Gaza, with dozens or hundreds of casualties every day, most from the vicinity of food distribution sites. He said the overwhelmed hospital has become “a huge trauma ward.” Support those in Nasser Hospital and other medical facilities.

The ICRC also said that in late June, its on-site hospital near one of the GHF sites was overwhelmed by massive casualties 20 times in the previous months. It said people have been heading to food distribution sites and “the vast majority of patients are injured.”

Also on Friday, the Israeli military said two soldiers in northern Gaza were investigating after they were killed in the fight. More than 860 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the war, including more than 400 in the battle in Gaza.

The Israeli military also issued a new evacuation order in northeastern Khan Yunis in southern Gaza on Friday and urged Palestinians to move westward ahead of planned military operations against Hamas in the region. The new evacuation zone pushes Palestinians toward smaller and smaller spaces on the coast.

Gaza's Ministry of Health said the number of Palestinians killed in the territory has exceeded 57,000. The ministry did not distinguish between civilians and combatants in numbers, but said more than half of the dead were women and children. The ministry is run by medical professionals employed by the Hamas government and its number is widely cited by the United Nations and international organizations.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.