Israel-Hamas war: Hamas responds to US cease-fire proposal

An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon late Tuesday killed a senior Hezbollah commander, the Lebanese militant group said in a statement.

Hezbollah said the commander was Taleb Sami Abdullah, also known as “Hajj Abu Taleb." The group did not give details on the location and circumstances of his death.

The militant group, backed by Iran, published a photo of Abdullah alongside Wissam al-Tawil, another senior commander killed in an Israeli strike in January.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah  has intensified in the past month, as Israel launched its offensive into the key southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Egyptian and Qatari mediators on Tuesday confirmed that they had received a Hamas response to a US-backed cease-fire proposal in Gaza.

Both countries went on to "confirm that their joint mediation efforts with the United States of America will continue until an agreement is reached, and that the mediators will examine the response and coordinate with the parties concerned regarding the next steps."

The statement made no mention of Israel.

Earlier in the day, Hamas and an associated organization based in Gaza, Islamic Jihad, said they were "ready to deal positively to arrive at an agreement."

Hamas still holds roughly 120 of the nearly 250 hostages it abducted when it attacked Israel on October 7, sparking the current iteration of the conflict in Gaza.

Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the US and other countries. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has announced more than $400 million in humanitarian assistance to Palestinians at an aid conference for the Gaza Strip hosted by Jordan.

Blinken was on a tour of the Middle East to move forward a cease-fire deal on Tuesday. He told the conference that more must be done to allow access to humanitarian aid in Gaza. 

The Secretary of State also called on Hamas to accept a US-backed proposal for a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release. 

He said a UN Security Council's resolution in favor of the plan made it "as clear as it possibly could be" that the world supports it.

Blinken added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had repeated his "commitment" to the proposal when they met late Monday.

US President Joe Biden surprisingly presented a three-stage plan for a cease-fire in the Gaza war at the end of May. It includes the release of a group of Israeli hostages during the complete cease-fire. In return, Palestinians imprisoned in Israel would be released.

A senior official of Hamas said the group was in accord with the resolution and was ready to negotiate details, a development that Blinken called "a hopeful sign."

However Qatari and Egyptian mediators have not received formal replies from Hamas or Israel to the proposal, and there are doubts about whether any real progress has been made.

After talks with Israeli leaders, Blinken also said discussions touching on post-war plans for Gaza would continue over the next couple of days.

The United Nations said Tuesday it was "profoundly shocked at the impact on civilians" at the Nuseirat refugee camp after Israel's moves to secure the release of four hostages over the weekend.

Spokesman Jeremy Laurence also said the UN was "deeply distressed that Palestinian armed groups continue to hold many hostages, most of them civilians."

Israeli forces stormed the refugee camp while rescuing Almog Meir Jan, Noa Argamani, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv, who Hamas kidnapped from the Nova music festival in southern Israel on October 7.

Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry said at least 274 Palestinians were killed as part of the Israel military's weekend operation, which also wounded a further 698 people.

"Hundreds of Palestinians, many of them civilians, were reportedly killed and injured," Laurence added.

"The manner in which the raid was conducted, in such a densely populated area, seriously calls into question whether the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution, as set out under the laws of war, were respected by the Israeli forces."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to attend a humanitarian aid conference for the Gaza Strip hosted by Jordan on Tuesday as he continues his Middle East tour to secure a deal to bring an end to hostilities.

According to the conference's official website, the summit will be attended by the leaders, foreign ministers and officials of 75 countries as well as representatives of international organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"The war in Gaza is now in its eighth month, with massive loss of life among civilians and suffering for the entire population of over 2.3 million Palestinians across the Strip," conference organizers said.

"Famine is imminent in many parts of Gaza; trauma is widespread; every part of Gaza is in ruins. No place is safe in the Strip, and access to food, water, shelter, or medicine is practically non-existent."

The summit on the Dead Sea coast will be attended by Blinken and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Blinken is on his eighth visit to the region since the war began.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday as part of his Middle East trip.

Blinken also met with opposition leader Yair Lapid and is due to hold talks with Israeli lawmaker Benny Gantz, a former army chief who quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's emergency wartime coalition on Sunday.

The secretary of state's trip aims to garner support for the US proposal for a cease-fire, which on Monday received support from the UN Security Council.

According to Washington, Hamas has not yet agreed to the proposal, and Netanyahu has also not given a clear backing.

The UN Security Council has backed a US resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, which calls for three phases. 

The first phase envisages a six-week cessation in fighting and an Israeli withdrawal from populated areas of Gaza, allowing displaced Palestinians to return. 

This initial withdrawal would enable a sharp upturn in humanitarian aid, with around 600 trucks entering the enclave each day.

Meanwhile, Hamas would release female, elderly and injured hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians being held in Israel.

In the second phase, all remaining hostages in Gaza, including male Israeli soldiers, would be released, while Israeli forces would withdraw from the entirety of the Gaza Strip. US President Joe Biden hopes the cease-fire would become permanent by this stage.

Phase three would see the start of an internationally-backed reconstruction plan for Gaza.

"This Council sent a clear message to Hamas: accept the cease-fire deal on the table. Israel has already agreed to this deal, and the fighting could stop today if Hamas would do the same," said US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield after Monday's session.

js,kb,jsi/wmr (AP, dpa, AFP, Reuters)