New Israel-Gaza ceasefire plan underway

A senior Palestinian official familiar with Israel-Hamas ceasefire negotiations has told the BBC that Qatari and Egyptian mediators have proposed a new formula to end the war in Gaza.

According to the official, it envisages a truce lasting between five and seven years, the release of all Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, a formal end to the war, and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

A senior Hamas delegation was due to arrive in Cairo for consultations.

The last ceasefire collapsed a month ago when Israel resumed bombing Gaza, with both sides blaming each other for the failure to keep it going.

Israel has not commented on the mediators’ plan.

Meanwhile, at least 26 Palestinians were killed and 60 others injured by Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry said on Tuesday.

Residents and eyewitnesses described the air strikes as “extremely intense.”

According to witnesses, the attacks destroyed dozens of bulldozers and heavy machinery equipment used by Hamas-run municipalities to reopen roads, clear rubble, and rescue victims trapped beneath the debris.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had struck “approximately 40 engineering vehicles used for terror purposes, including during the October 7th massacre”.