The recent strain in negotiations arises as the conflict approaches 20 months of war, with desperation intensifying among starving Palestinians and families of people held captive in Gaza.
TEL AVIV, Israel — A senior Hamas official informed The Associated Press on Saturday that the group is requesting changes to the newest U.S. ceasefire proposal for Gaza. However, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff deemed the Hamas response “completely unacceptable.”
This new tension in talks emerges as the conflict nears its 20-month mark, heightening the distress among famished Palestinians and the relatives of hostages in Gaza.
The Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks, said proposed amendments focused on “the U.S. guarantees, the timing of hostage release, the delivery of aid and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.” There were no details.
A separate Hamas statement said the proposal aims for a permanent ceasefire, a comprehensive Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an ensured flow of aid. It said 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 others would be released ” in exchange for an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners.” Fifty-eight hostages remain and Israel believes 35 are dead.
Witkoff on social media instead described a 60-day ceasefire deal that would free half the living hostages in Gaza and return half of those who have died. He urged Hamas to accept the framework proposal as the basis for talks that he said could begin next week.
Israeli officials have approved the U.S. proposal for a temporary ceasefire. U.S. President Donald Trump has said negotiators were nearing a deal.
A top Hamas official, Bassem Naim, accused Israel of disagreeing with agreed-upon provisions and alleged a “complete bias toward the other side” that he said violates the fairness of mediation.
“We want the bloodshed to stop,” Motasim, a man from the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, said of the talks. ”I swear to God, we are tired.”
Desperation rises inside Gaza
Palestinians in Gaza blocked and offloaded 77 food trucks, the U.N. World Food Program said, as hunger mounts following Israel’s monthslong blockade of the territory. The WFP said the aid, mostly flour, was taken before the trucks could reach their destination.
A witness in the southern city of Khan Younis, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, told the AP the U.N. convoy was stopped at a makeshift roadblock and offloaded by desperate civilians in their thousands.
The nearly three-month blockade on Gaza has pushed the population of over 2 million to the brink of famine. While Israel allowed some aid to enter in recent days, aid organizations say far from enough is getting in.
Israel’s military body in charge of aid coordination in Gaza, COGAT, said 579 trucks of aid had entered over the past week. The U.N. has said 600 per day were entering under the previous ceasefire that Israel ended with new bombardment.
The WFP said the fear of starvation in Gaza is high. “We need to flood communities with food for the next few days to calm anxieties,” it said in a statement. It added that it has over 140,000 metric tons of food — enough to feed Gazans for two months — ready to be brought in.
The United Nations said earlier this month that Israeli authorities have forced them to use unsecured routes within areas controlled by Israel’s military in the eastern areas of Rafah and Khan Younis, where armed gangs are active and trucks were stopped.
Attacks, gangs and lack of protection hamper UN distribution
An internal document shared with aid groups about security incidents, seen by the AP, said there were four incidents of facilities being looted in three days at the end of May, not including Saturday’s.
The U.N. says it has been unable to get enough aid in because of fighting.
A new U.S- and Israeli-backed foundation started operations in Gaza this week, distributing food at several sites in a chaotic rollout.
Israel says the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation eventually will replace the aid operation by the U.N. and others. It says the new mechanism is necessary, accusing Hamas of siphoning off large amounts of aid. The U.N. denies that significant diversion takes place.
The GHF works with armed contractors, which it says are needed to distribute food safely. Aid groups have accused the foundation of militarizing aid. The GHF said it distributed 30 truckloads of food on Saturday and called it their largest distribution so far.
Israeli strikes kill at least 60
Israel continued its military campaign across Gaza, saying it struck dozens of targets over the past day. Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 60 people were killed by Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours.
The ministry said three people were killed by Israeli gunfire early Saturday in Rafah. Three others were killed — parents and a child — when their car was struck in Gaza City. An Israeli strike hit another car in Gaza City, killing four. And an Israeli strike hit a tent sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis, killing six, said Weam Fares, a spokesperson for Nasser Hospital.
Israel’s military said several projectiles from Gaza fell in open areas.
The war began when Hamas attauncked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 250 hostages.
Israeli strikes have killed more than 54,000 Gaza residents, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally.
A group of hostages’ relatives again pleaded for a comprehensive ceasefire deal that would free everyone at once, saying the remaining hostages “will not survive continued military pressure.”
Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, contributed.
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