A Palestinian girl reacts as people queue at a food distribution point in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip. AFP
The Ramallah-based PA welcomed the Iran-Israel truce announced by US President Donald Trump but urged that it extend to include Gaza.
“We demand the completion of this step by achieving a ceasefire that includes the Gaza Strip,” President Mahmoud Abbas’s office said in a statement published by WAFA news agency.
In tandem, in a statement, Hamas called for a “national, Arab and Islamic push” to stop Israel’s war and allow the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid.
The Israeli blockade has restricted supplies to Gaza for nearly three months, leaving two million Palestinians on the brink of starvation.
Sources close to Hamas told Reuters the group had resumed indirect ceasefire talks with Israel.
Hamas signalled its willingness to consider any proposal that would “end the war and secure Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza” — terms that Israel has repeatedly rejected.
The group also said it was prepared to release the remaining captives held in Gaza as part of a deal to end the war.
Qatar said Tuesday that it is hoping for indirect talks between Israel and Hamas within the next two days. The Qatari prime minister said the negotiations were “ongoing,” adding that Qatar and Egypt are in touch with both sides to find a “middle ground” regarding the latest US-proposed truce.
Echoing this hopeful outlook, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote on X: “And now Gaza. This is the moment to close that front as well.”
On 17 March, Israel unilaterally ended a two-month ceasefire and prisoner swap arrangement, brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the US. It resumed its genocidal campaign on the Strip, killing and wounding hundreds since.
Israeli attacks have killed nearly 56,000 Palestinians since the war began in October 2023, most of them women and children.
Since early May, Israeli troops have killed more than 500 Palestinians seeking food and water at US-Israeli so-called aid centres in the strip.
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