Hamas negotiators in Cairo have received a new ceasefire proposal for Gaza featuring a 60-day truce and a two-phase hostage release, according to an anonymous Palestinian official. “The proposal is a framework agreement to initiate negotiations on a permanent ceasefire,” the official told AFP, adding that Hamas will conduct internal consultations with its leaders and other Palestinian factions to review the offer.
Concurrently, Israeli Army (IDF) Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir has approved a military plan to occupy Gaza City, as reported by Channel 12. Zamir is scheduled to present the strategy to the Defense Minister tomorrow. In recent closed-door talks, Zamir stated the operation would involve evacuating the area’s population over “slightly less than two months” before surrounding and occupying the city, while minimizing reliance on reserve forces.
Life in Gaza remains dire, according to Father Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest of the Holy Family Church in Gaza City’s al-Zaytun neighborhood. “Life here is very, very difficult,” he stated, reporting a new evacuation order for his entire district alongside the distribution of tents. “People might think this is good news… but this is in preparation for evacuating the entire city of Gaza.” He questioned where the Strip’s 2.3 million residents could relocate. During yesterday’s mass, a nearby “very large explosion” damaged a water tank, causing material losses only – “another Sunday of war.”
Father Romanelli noted “contradictory signs,” including a charity distributing vegetables that brought temporary relief, against the backdrop of the evacuation orders. He emphasized children’s acute needs and lamented the stalled negotiations: “There’s no agreement. One side doesn’t want to release all hostages, the other says ‘no, all together’… The only certainty is bombs continue to kill civilians and children – the numbers are terrible.”
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reported five Palestinians, including two children, died from malnutrition in the past 24 hours, bringing total starvation deaths since the conflict began to 263, including 112 children. Separately, Al Jazeera reported at least 11 Palestinians were killed in IDF strikes across Gaza since dawn today, four of whom were awaiting humanitarian aid.