Israel has rejected a US-backed Gaza ceasefire deal offering a 70-day truce and hostage release. The move deepens the ongoing conflict and delays humanitarian aid, with key issues unresolved between Israel and Hamas over hostages and military withdrawal.
Israel has officially turned down a newly proposed ceasefire agreement presented by US mediators that aimed to bring an end to the ongoing Gaza conflict and secure the release of ten hostages, including both living and deceased individuals. The proposal, revealed by Israel’s state-owned Kan TV on Monday, was submitted overnight by American negotiators seeking to facilitate a humanitarian breakthrough in the 19-month-long war.
According to a senior Israeli official involved in the negotiations, the US proposal included a 70-day ceasefire, the release of five living and five deceased hostages, and increased humanitarian aid to Gaza. It also pushed for further talks toward a permanent ceasefire. However, the official stated that Israel rejected the deal outright, describing it as a “surrender to Hamas.”
The official reiterated Israel’s preference for the so-called Witkoff framework, first introduced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in March. This plan proposes a 50-day truce in exchange for the release of more hostages, but without addressing two of Hamas’s key demands: the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Negotiations between Israel and Hamas remain at a stalemate. The most recent round of indirect talks concluded last Thursday without progress after Prime Minister Netanyahu abruptly recalled the Israeli delegation, as reported by Xinhua news agency. Talks have struggled to gain traction since Israel suspended a previous three-phase ceasefire agreement in March. That deal had initially allowed for a two-month truce and led to the release of 33 Israeli hostages by Hamas before falling apart.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate. Last week, Philip Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), called for a “meaningful and uninterrupted” flow of humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave.
Israel has repeatedly claimed that Hamas diverts a large portion of international aid, often with the alleged complicity of UN agencies — a claim the United Nations has strongly denied.
As the war drags on, the fate of the 58 remaining hostages in Gaza remains uncertain, and efforts by international mediators to broker a sustainable ceasefire have hit repeated roadblocks. With both sides entrenched in their positions and growing calls for a humanitarian resolution, prospects for peace remain fragile.
