The war between Israel and Hamas
Source: Meeting expected after new proposal on ceasefire in Gaza
Martina Karpmyr
Updated 20.10 | Published 18.18
Israel has received a new ceasefire proposal from Hamas.
The parties may be heading toward more detailed negotiations and a framework agreement, an Israeli source told CNN.
At the same time, there are reports of new Israeli attacks in Khan Yunis, the city from which thousands of people fled this week.
Quick version
Israel has received a new ceasefire proposal from terror-labeled Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office told Israeli media yesterday.
Tonight, Netanyahu is expected to discuss the proposal during a meeting with his security cabinet, according to Reuters sources.
Hamas talks with mediators from Qatar and Egypt. In a statement, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh stated that he had communicated with Turkey and that the discussions are being held in a "positive spirit", according to Israeli Haaretz.
According to an Israeli source with access to the latest proposal, it may be possible for the parties to enter into detailed negotiations to reach an agreement, reports CNN.
Airstrikes in Khan Yunis
During the week, at the same time, new reports have come of Israeli airstrikes in the Khan Yunis and Rafah area.
At least seven people were injured when a residential building near Nasser Hospital in western Khan Yunis, according to hospital staff and witnesses, reports the AP news agency.
On Monday, the Israeli military (IDF), in an evacuation order on social media, called on civilians in the eastern parts of Khan Yunis, among others, to flee the area.
"For your own safety, you must evacuate immediately and move to the humanitarian zone," IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X.
Palestinians fleeing Khan Yunis in Gaza.
1 / 2Photo: Saher Alghorra / AP
The evacuation order from the IDF came a few hours after Israel stated that some 20 rackets had been fired from Khan Yunis at Israel.
The rockets were shot down by Israel and no one was injured. The terrorist-branded Islamic Jihad's armed wing, the al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Many seek refuge in the West
The safe zone identified by the IDF is the coastal area of al-Mawasi, which is already filled with cramped and unsanitary tent camps.
When Palestinians in Rafah were urged to flee there in May, people on the ground testified that the area is overpopulated.
Since Monday, many families have struggled to seek shelter in the western parts of Khan Yunis, AP writes.
In the vicinity of Wednesday's attack, there is also a school where people on the run have taken shelter.
"The building was bombed without warning and hit by two missiles in a row, one after the other," Jalal Lafi, a man who fled Rafah in southern Gaza, told the AP.
Attacks even in safe zones
Gaza is "the only place in the world where people cannot find a safe place of refuge, and at the same time cannot leave the front line", even in safe zones there are bombings, Andrea De Domenico of the UN humanitarian agency Ocha told reporters in Jerusalem on Wednesday, according to AP.
A well-known Palestinian doctor and eight of his relatives fled after Monday's evacuation order from the Israeli military (IDF) from Khan Yunis to relatives in the safe zone to which the IDF directed civilians.
Just hours after they arrived, the family and three other Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack, the AP reported. Five children and three women were among the dead.
1.9 million on the run
In total, around 1,9 million people are now refugees in Gaza, according to Ocha.
According to the UN, about 250,000 Palestinians are affected by Monday's evacuation order.
The Gaza Strip has, according to Andrea De Domenico, been divided into two by Israel's military operations, writes The Guardian. According to Ocha, over 300,000 Palestinians are estimated to be in northern Gaza, with no way to get south.
Before the Rafah border crossing was closed by Israel in May, according to Ocha, around 110,000 Palestinians had managed to flee to Egypt.
Behind all these numbers are people, says De Domenico.
- People who in the past nine months have been moved around like pieces in a board game.
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