Gaza cease-fire hopes rise as talks to resume

CAIRO/GAZA/JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US President Joe Biden on Thursday he has decided to send a delegation to resume stalled negotiations on a hostage release deal with Hamas, their administrations said.

A source from the Israeli negotiating team, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was a real chance of achieving agreement after Hamas made a revised proposal on the terms of a deal.

"The proposal put forward by Hamas includes a very significant breakthrough," the source said.

The Israeli response to the Hamas proposal, submitted via mediators, was in marked contrast to past instances during the nearly nine-month conflict in Gaza, where Israel has said the conditions attached by Hamas were not acceptable.

An Israeli official said the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency would lead the Israeli delegation for talks.

Netanyahu was scheduled later on Thursday to have consultations with his negotiating team, and then discuss the hostage release talks with his security cabinet.

Israel received Hamas' response on Wednesday to a proposal made public at the end of May by Biden that would include the release of about 120 hostages held in Gaza and a cease-fire in the enclave.

A Palestinian official close to the mediation efforts told Reuters that Hamas has shown flexibility over some clauses that would allow a framework agreement to be reached should Israel approve.

Two Hamas officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Hamas has said any deal must end the conflict and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel maintains it will accept only temporary pauses in the fighting until Hamas is eradicated.

It was not clear where the Israeli delegation would go to resume talks. Prior efforts to end the Gaza conflict were mediated by Egypt and Qatar, with talks held in both locations.

In Gaza, Palestinians reacted cautiously to the prospect of renewed talks.

"We hope that this is the end of the war, we are exhausted and we can't stand more setbacks and disappointments," said Youssef, a father of two, now displaced in Khan Younis in the south of the enclave.

On Thursday, Gaza's health ministry said the Palestinian death toll in the nearly nine months of conflict had passed 38,000, with 87,445 wounded.

Ongoing strikes

An Israeli strike hit a school in Gaza City and the Civil Emergency Service said five Palestinians were killed and others wounded, while other Israeli strikes on Gaza City's old town on Thursday killed a woman and wounded several others, medics said.

The Israeli military said it had been operating to dismantle Hamas' military and administrative capabilities. It said it was acting in accordance with international law and taking feasible precautions to minimize civilian casualties.

In another development, Israel's regulatory body has approved plans for building 5,295 new settler homes throughout the occupied West Bank, a settlement monitoring group said on Thursday.

Peace Now, a settlement watchdog based in Israel, stated in a news release that the Higher Planning Council of the Civil Administration approved the new construction during a two-day discussion on Wednesday and Thursday.

The approval of the new settler housing units came a day after Israeli authorities approved the appropriation of 12.7 square kilometers of land in the West Bank, marking the largest single appropriation in about three decades.

These moves are likely to stoke further tensions in the region, which is already experiencing increasing violence.

Xinhua