Hamas ‘ready’ for immediate talks on ceasefire proposal

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• 20 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes
• MSF mourns colleague slain in previous day’s shooting at aid centre
• UN records 613 killings at GHF aid points & convoys

TEL AVIV/CAIRO: Hamas said on Friday it was ready to start talks “immediately” on a proposal for a ceasefire with Israel, after holding consultations with other Palestinian factions.

“The movement is ready to engage immediately and seriously in a cycle of negotiations on the mechanism to put in place” the terms of a draft truce proposal received from mediators, the group said in a statement.

Earlier on Tuesday, Israel accepted the conditions needed to finalise a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, during which the parties would work towards ending the war.

A source familiar with Hamas’ position said the group was seeking guarantees that talks to end the war would take place during the 60-day truce, and that if no deal was reached by the end of that period, the pause in fighting would be extended till both sides come to terms.

Meanwhile, as US President Donald Trump said he expected Hamas to respond to his “final proposal” for a ceasefire in Gaza in the next 24 hours, at least 20 Palestinians were killed on Friday in an Israeli air strike in Gaza, according to local health officials.

Health officials at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, said the Israeli military had carried out an air strike on a tent encampment west of the city around 2am, killing 15 Palestinians displaced by Israeli attacks.

A Gaza civil defence official said those killed included five who were shot while waiting for aid near a US-run site near Rafah in southern Gaza and several who were waiting for aid near the Wadi Gaza Bridge in the centre of the territory.

They were the latest in a spate of deaths near aid distribution centres in the devastated territory, which UN agencies have warned is on the brink of famine.

At Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, crowds mourned 16 people killed on Thursday by what the civil defence agency said was shooting close to a nearby aid centre.

Medical aid charity Doctors Without Borders said Abdullah Hammad, who recently finished a contract working for it, was among those killed in Thursday’s shooting.

It said he was the 12th colleague the group had lost in the Gaza war.

“We demand an end to this bloodshed,” MSF said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the the UN human rights office said it had recorded at least 613 killings both at aid points run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and near humanitarian convoys.

“We have recorded 613 killings, both at GHF points and near humanitarian convoys — this is a figure as of June 27. Since then … there have been further incidents,” Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is yet to comment on Trump’s ceasefire announcement. While some members of his right-wing coalition oppose a deal, others have indicated their support.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2025