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Hamas says it responds to Gaza ceasefire proposal in ‘a positive spirit’

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Hamas said it had responded on Friday in “a positive spirit” to a U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal and was prepared to enter into talks on implementing the deal, which envisages a release of hostages and negotiations on ending the conflict.

U.S. President Donald Trump earlier announced a “final proposal” for a 60-day ceasefire in the nearly 21-month-old war between Israel and Hamas, stating he anticipated a reply from the parties in coming hours.

Hamas wrote on its official website: “The Hamas movement has completed its internal consultations as well as discussions with Palestinian factions and forces regarding the latest proposal by the mediators to halt the aggression against our people in Gaza,” Reuters reported.

“The movement has delivered its response to the brotherly mediators, which was characterized by a positive spirit. Hamas is fully prepared, with all seriousness, to immediately enter a new round of negotiations on the mechanism for implementing this framework,” the statement said.

In a sign of potential challenges still facing the sides, a Palestinian official of a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing to Egypt and clarity over a timetable of Israeli troop withdrawals.

Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day ceasefire, during which efforts would be made to end the U.S. ally’s war in the Palestinian enclave.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements the two sides remain far apart. Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the militant group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.

Israeli media cited an Israeli official as saying that Israel had received and was looking into Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.

An Egyptian security official told Reuters that Egypt, which along with Qatar is mediating ceasefire efforts, had seen Hamas’ response and said: “It includes positive signs that an agreement is near, but there are some demands from Hamas that need to be worked on.”

Trump has said he would be “very firm” with Netanyahu on the need for a speedy Gaza ceasefire, while noting that the Israeli leader wants one as well.

“We hope it’s going to happen. And we’re looking forward to it happening sometime next week,” he told reporters earlier this week. “We want to get the hostages out.”

ATTACKS OVERNIGHT

Israeli attacks have killed at least 138 Palestinians in Gaza over the past 24 hours, local health officials said.

Health officials at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, said the Israeli military had carried out an airstrike on a tent encampment west of the city around 2 a.m., killing 15 Palestinians displaced by nearly two years of war.

The Israeli military said troops operating in the Khan Younis area had eliminated militants, confiscated weapons and dismantled Hamas outposts in the last 24 hours, while striking 100 targets across Gaza, including military structures, weapons storage facilities and launchers.

Later on Friday, Palestinians gathered to perform funeral prayers before burying those killed overnight.

“There should have been a ceasefire long ago before I lost my brother,” said 13-year-old Mayar Al Farr as she wept. Her brother, Mahmoud, was shot dead in another incident, she said.

“He went to get aid, so he can get a bag of flour for us to eat. He got a bullet in his neck,” she said.

‘MAKE THE DEAL’

In Tel Aviv, families and friends of hostages held in Gaza were among demonstrators who gathered outside a U.S. Embassy building on U.S. Independence Day, calling on Trump to secure a deal for all of the captives.

Demonstrators set up a symbolic Sabbath dinner table, placing 50 empty chairs to represent those who are still held in Gaza. Banners hung nearby displaying a post by Trump from his Truth Social platform that read, “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!”

“Only you can make the deal. We want one beautiful deal. One beautiful hostage deal,” said Gideon Rosenberg, 48, from Tel Aviv.

Rosenberg was wearing a shirt with the image of hostage Avinatan Or, one of his employees who was abducted by Palestinian militants from the Nova musical festival on October 7, 2023. He is among the 20 hostages who are believed to be alive after more than 600 days of captivity.

An official familiar with the negotiations said on Thursday that the proposal envisages the return of 10 of the hostages during the 60 days, along with the bodies of 18 others who had died since being taken hostage.

Ruby Chen, 55, the father of 19-year-old American-Israeli Itay, who is believed to have been killed after being taken captive, urged Netanyahu to return from meeting with Trump with a deal that brings back all hostages.

Itay Chen, also a German national, was serving as an Israeli soldier when Hamas carried out its surprise attack on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking another 251 hostage.

Israel’s retaliatory war against Hamas has devastated Gaza, which the militant group has ruled for almost two decades but now only controls in parts, displacing most of the population of more than 2 million and triggering widespread hunger.

More than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in nearly two years of fighting, most of them civilians, according to local health officials.

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Iran says outcome of Israeli elections ‘makes no difference’

Tuesday’s legislative elections will take place amid mounting threats by Israel and the United States to renew attacks on Iran after they launched their war in late February.

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Iran’s foreign ministry said Monday that the outcome of the Israeli elections in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a tight race will make “no difference”, AFP reported.

“It makes no difference to us who, in these elections, takes the helm of a regime that has brought nothing but violence and massacres to our region,” said ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a weekly press briefing.

Tuesday’s legislative elections will take place amid mounting threats by Israel and the United States to renew attacks on Iran after they launched their war in late February.

Netanyahu has in recent days repeatedly said the only way to remove the threat posed by Iran is to topple its government.

On Sunday, he told Israel’s Channel 14 that he had “instructed the Mossad and the IDF to overthrow the Iranian regime”.

Baqaei dismissed Netanyahu’s remarks as “empty threats” and a “sign of desperation”.

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Officials from Mecca pact countries to meet Iranian officials in Tehran

Pakistan’s military media wing and Turkey’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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Top officials from Mecca Pact countries ​Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan are to meet Iran’s leaders in Tehran on Monday in their first high-level contact since the kingdom became a pressure point in ‌the wider Iran conflict, Reuters reported.

Saudi Arabia will be represented by Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Pakistan by army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Turkey by intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, Saudi and Iranian officials said.

Attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have spiralled in recent weeks and rhetoric between Washington and Tehran has grown more heated. Both countries have also drawn up plans to restart the wider war, possibly after the US midterm elections on November ​3.

Monday’s planned talks will be the first high-level contact between Iran and all members of the three-nation bloc since Saudi Arabia was drawn deeper into the conflict. Under the Mecca ​Joint Defence Agreement signed in August, an armed attack on one member is considered an attack on all.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei ⁠said on Monday discussions on regional security would include “Israel’s expansionist policies, developments in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon, and the repercussions of US and Israeli military action against Iran.”

Baghaei said the meeting, ​proposed during a visit by Munir to Tehran last week, could be a first step towards establishing regional security mechanisms based on the interests of countries in the region.

Qatari mediators met Iranian officials ​in Tehran on Sunday in a push to de-escalate regional tensions, Reuters reported. Qatar has, for months, played a mediating role between Tehran and Washington.

A senior Iranian official said the meeting was initiated by Pakistan, during Munir’s visit to Tehran, as he met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior officials. During the visit, Iranian officials told him there would be no talks with Washington until Tehran’s demands were met, according to Iranian media.

Earlier ​mediation efforts involving both Pakistan and Qatar helped produce an interim peace agreement in June, but the deal quickly unravelled as fighting between Iran and the United States resumed weeks later.

The ​deputy secretary of Iran’s top security body, Ali Baqeri-Kani, told state TV that Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid, Pakistan’s Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin would visit Tehran for consultations with Iran’s Supreme National Security ‌Council on ⁠regional security.

Saudi Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Rayed Krimly said the meeting is part of ongoing efforts by the Mecca Pact countries to de-escalate the current crisis, promote diplomatic solutions, and support mediation efforts led by Qatar and Pakistan.”The visit also underscores the pivotal role of the Mecca Pact states in fostering regional security and stability, and their commitment to working with all nations in the region toward achieving this goal,” Krimly posted on X.

Pakistan’s military media wing and Turkey’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Saudi Arabia intercepted another wave of missiles and ​drones on Sunday as fighting with the Houthis ​continued unabated.

Ministers from the Mecca Pact countries ⁠held an emergency meeting in Riyadh earlier this month and agreed to ensure the “rapid deployment” of military forces and capabilities in Saudi Arabia.

The Houthi attacks have become an increasingly destabilising element in the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, turning US ally Saudi Arabia into a pressure point in the wider ​war.

Tensions between Washington and Tehran have sharpened in recent days. President Donald Trump said on Friday the US may carry out another ​military operation against Iran and ⁠Iran’s leaders have said that a renewed US military campaign would be met with a stronger response than before.

Iranian security officials have told Reuters that Tehran has drawn up detailed plans to hit Gulf undersea cables if the United States and Israel attack again. A US intelligence memo this week warned that Iranian plots against American personnel had reached “advanced stages”.

The war, now nearly eight months old, has weighed ⁠on President Donald ​Trump’s approval ratings ahead of the midterms.

The Mecca agreement’s first article says the parties shall use “all necessary means” to ​eliminate threats to one another’s territorial integrity, sovereignty or internationally recognised borders, according to a text seen by Reuters.

Efforts by Turkey’s parliament to ratify the agreement began last week and are still underway, while Pakistan approved the pact last ​week.

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Iran tells Pakistan army chief no talks with Washington until demands are met

The demands include ending a US ​blockade on its ports, the lifting of sanctions on its oil exports ​as well as ending hostilities on all regional fronts.

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Iran told Pakistan’s army chief on Tuesday that there would be no talks with Washington until Tehran’s ​demands were met, Iranian media reported, underscoring its hardening stance despite ‌mediation efforts by key interlocutor Pakistan.

President Masoud Pezeshkian discussed mediation efforts and regional developments with Field Marshal Asim Munir in Tehran, according to Nournews.

Pakistan is a key intermediary between ​the United States and Iran. Earlier mediation efforts helped produce an interim ​peace agreement in June, but the Islamabad Memorandum quickly unravelled ⁠as fighting between Iran and the US resumed weeks after.

Munir also met ​Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who said Washington could not regain Tehran’s ​trust until it fulfilled seven conditions Iran set last month for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, according to an Iranian readout of the meeting.

The demands include ending a US ​blockade on its ports, the lifting of sanctions on its oil exports ​as well as ending hostilities on all regional fronts.

Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, ‌delivered a similar ⁠message during a separate meeting with Munir, saying there would be no talks with Washington until Tehran’s demands were met, according to Iranian media.

Rezaei also said all enriched nuclear materials would remain in Iran, reiterating Supreme Leader ​Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei’s position ​that near-weapons-grade uranium ⁠should not be shipped abroad.

US Vice President JD Vance said earlier this month that Iran must make a “meaningful” reduction ​in its uranium enrichment capacity to satisfy US demands and ​end ⁠the countries’ eight-month-old war.

Israel, the United States and other Western states have long accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, including pointing to its move to ⁠enrich uranium ​to 60%, far higher than needed for ​civilian uses and closer to the 90% needed for a weapon.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons.

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