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People assess damage and remove items from their homes following an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on April 7.
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People assess damage and remove items from their homes following an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on April 7.
Ahmad Hasabala/Getty Images
Hamas said it was reviewing Israel's latest offer for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, seven months after a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people. Israeli leaders have indicated that further escalation could soon occur if no agreement is reached between the two sides.
International efforts continue to try to solidify areas of agreement, with an Egyptian-led mediator at the center of efforts to encourage both sides to end the violence.
A senior Hamas official told NPR that the militant group would review the terms proposed by Israel in their entirety before responding, but that it was still studying them and had no scheduled time for its response.
![Gaza's 100-degree heatwave offers sweltering glimpse of tough summer to come](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/04/26/screenshot-2024-04-26-at-1.36.37-pm_sq-7ba66c014192122c50a1e8c3f35130f6e07c22c3-s100.jpg)
He did not elaborate on Israel's offer but said it followed the terms set by Hamas earlier this month. The terms focused on the exchange of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel for Israeli prisoners held in the Gaza Strip, as well as a six-week exchange of Israeli prisoners. rebellion.
The Egyptian delegation left Israel on Friday after discussing a possible multi-level and long-term Gaza ceasefire, an official told The Associated Press. The plan would allow civilians currently in the south of the territory to return to their homes further north and could eventually lead to a more permanent agreement that would end the fighting altogether.
America's main concern, shared by its international partners, is that Israeli forces will launch a full-scale assault on Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip. That's because more than a million Palestinians who fled widespread fighting elsewhere in Gaza have found refuge.
![Hamas video shows an American hostage alive for the first time since October 7.](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/04/25/ap24057589554710_sq-677d0dc73a1b2494076ff8ad1f5713bb8082e368-s100.jpg)
Israel has insisted that additional ground military operations in Rafah are needed to destroy remaining Hamas fighters. But several countries, including neighboring Egypt, have said such an Israeli attack would have far more serious consequences for civilians and could further destabilize the wider region.
Nonetheless, Israeli forces remain concentrated around the city and airstrikes continue daily. Four children were killed in an airstrike in the city on Saturday, according to local health officials. Hamas has repeatedly said it will not sign a new agreement unless it includes provisions for a permanent ceasefire.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military has begun construction of a sea loading platform to deliver more aid to Gaza, with plans to move trucks from those platforms to temporary docks on Gaza's coastline as part of a larger operation. Within a few weeks.
![What you need to know about a possible Israeli military attack in Rafah](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/04/24/gettyimages-2149373237_sq-dbaaca31ef3004258e39e927d5a56478224c81c3-s100.jpg)
Senior leaders, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, will meet in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh next week, a World Economic Forum official said. The prime minister of Qatar, another central country in Gaza ceasefire negotiations, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will attend. He is scheduled to travel there after a scheduled visit to Israel on Tuesday as the State Department considers whether to cut off support for Israeli troops found to have committed serious human rights abuses against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Meanwhile, China is expected to host senior leaders of Abbas's Fatah party and Hamas next week for further talks aimed at resolving the long-running political dispute between the two factions, which ruled Gaza and the West Bank respectively until October 7. The U.S. government considers Hamas a terrorist group but does not publicly support such a reconciliation, given that it recognizes the legitimacy of Fatah and its leadership in the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited autonomy in the occupied West Bank.