Egypt floated a new proposal aimed at restoring the Gaza ceasefire deal, security sources said, as Palestinian health authorities said Israeli strikes had killed at least 65 people in the enclave in the past 24 hours.
The proposal, made last week, follows an escalation in violence after Israel resumed air and ground operations against Hamas militants on 18 March, effectively ending a two-month period of relative calm after 15 months of war.
Gaza health officials said Israeli airstrikes and shelling have killed nearly 700 Palestinians since then, including at least 400 women and children.
Among those killed were two local journalists, Mohammad Mansour and Hussam Shabat, medics said.
The Palestinian Journalist Syndicate said at least 206 journalists have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since early October 2023, when the conflict erupted.
There was no immediate Israeli comment.
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Militant group Hamas said several of its senior political and security officials had also been killed.
The Egyptian plan calls for Hamas to release five Israeli hostages each week, with Israel implementing the second phase of the ceasefire after the first week, two security sources said.
Hamas is still holding 59 hostages, with 24 of them thought to be still alive, among the more than 250 it kidnapped in its 7 October 2023 cross-border attack on Israel.
Most of the rest of the hostages have been freed in periodic negotiated exchanges.
Both the US and Hamas have agreed to the proposal, the security sources said, but Israel has not yet responded.
A Hamas official did not confirm the proposed offer, but said that "several proposals are being discussed with the mediators to bridge the gap and to resume negotiations to reach common ground that would pave the way to start the second phase of the agreement".
Timetable for withdrawal
The sources said the Egyptian proposal includes a timeline for a full Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza, backed by US guarantees, in exchange for the release of remaining hostages.
Hamas has accused Israel of breaking the terms of the January ceasefire agreement but has said it is willing to negotiate a renewed truce and was studying proposals from US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff.
Israel says it resumed its military operations to force Hamas to release the remaining hostages it is holding in Gaza.
It says it does its best to reduce harm to civilians and has questioned the death toll provided by health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave.
Palestinian officials have put the number of dead from nearly 18 months of conflict at over 50,000. Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli tallies.
In Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah, the municipality said thousands of people were stuck inside the Tel Al-Sultan district where some Israeli military forces had entered, with families trapped among the ruins, with no water, food, or medicine.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said 50,000 residents remained cornered in Rafah, which borders Egypt.
The Israeli military said troops had encircled Tel Al-Sultan to dismantle "terror infrastructure sites and eliminate terrorists in the area".
UNRWA, the UN Palestinian relief agency for Palestinians, said 124,000 people have been displaced in Gaza in recent days.
"Families carry what little they have with no shelter, no safety, and nowhere left to go.
"The Israeli authorities have cut off all aid. Food is scarce and prices are soaring. This is a humanitarian catastrophe. The siege must end," UNRWA said on X.
MSF condemns forcible displacement by Israel in West Bank
Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) denounced the "extremely precarious" situation of Palestinians who have been forcibly displaced by the ongoing Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank.
The organisation called on Israel to "immediately halt" the forcible displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank, adding that the humanitarian response must be scaled up.
According to the United Nations, some 40,000 residents have been displaced since 21 January, when the Israeli army launched an operation targeting Palestinian armed groups in the north of the territory.
The West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, is home to about three million Palestinians as well as nearly 500,000 Israelis living in settlements that are illegal under international law.
The situation of the displaced Palestinians is "extremely precarious", said MSF, which is operating in the area.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank "are without proper shelter, essential services, and access to healthcare", the NGO said.
"The mental health situation is alarming."
MSF said the scale of forced displacement and destruction of camps "has not been seen in decades" in the West Bank.
"People are unable to return to their homes as Israeli forces have blocked access to the camps, destroying homes and infrastructure," said MSF Director of Operations Brice de la Vingne.
"Israel must stop this, and the humanitarian response needs to be scaled up."
Dubbed "Iron Wall", the Israeli operation is primarily targeting three refugee camps - Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams - and defence minister Israel Katz said in February it would last several months.
"I have instructed (the soldiers) to prepare for a prolonged stay in the evacuated camps for the coming year, and not to allow the return of their residents or the resurgence of terrorism," he said in a statement.
Additional reporting Press Association
