Gaza cease-fire proposal includes 3-stage truce: Palestinian source

ISTANBUL

A Qatari-Egyptian cease-fire proposal approved by Hamas includes a 3-stage truce, a Palestinian source told Anadolu on Monday.

The first stage will last 40 days and includes a temporary cessation of military operations and Israeli troop withdrawal to the eastern areas of the Gaza Strip except for the Wadi Gaza area, which separates the territory’s north from its south, the source said.

After the release of all Israeli women held by Hamas, the Israeli army will withdraw from Al-Rasheed coastal road to the east to allow access to humanitarian aid and unhindered return of the displaced to their homes, he added.

The first stage of the truce includes the cessation of Israeli military and reconnaissance flights for eight hours every day, and 10 hours in the days that see the release of Israeli captives, the source said.

The second and third stages of the proposed truce include 42 days each, the source said, without providing any further details.

Hamas said on Monday evening that it has accepted a Qatari-Egyptian proposal for a Gaza cease-fire.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh conveyed his group’s approval of the proposal during phone calls with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, the group added in a statement.

Israel, for its part, said the truce offer accepted by the Palestinian group does not meet its key demands.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7 Hamas attack, which killed about 1,200 people. More than 34,700 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and 78,100 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Nearly seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar