Hamas says it has not received new cease-fire proposal, will consider any offer received
Source: Haaretz latest headlines
Hamas announced on Sunday that “contrary to media reports,” it has not received any new proposal from mediators of the cease-fire negotiations.
It noted that negotiations were halted after Israel’s attempted assassination of Hamas leadership in Doha earlier this month, and have not resumed since.
Hamas also stated that it “confirms its willingness to consider any proposal received from mediators in a positive and responsible manner, while preserving the national rights of our people.”
The National Security Committee is discussing a death penalty bill for those convicted of terrorist acts, in the presence of Israel’s Coordinator for Hostages and Missing Persons, Gal Hirsch, and Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Hirsch stated that he is present in order to request that the discussion not take place.
At the beginning of the discussion, MK Zvika Fogel, from the far-right religious Zionist Otzma Yehudit party, addressed pushback to the bill from professional organizations, including Hirsch’s, and said that he rejected their assessment.
The committee is expected to vote on the bill, presented by MK Limor Son Har-Melech, also from the Otzma Yehudit party, ahead of its first reading.
Ben-Gvir said that he had chosen to hold this discussion although he was asked not to by associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Fogel denied that he had received any request on the matter from the Prime Minister’s Office.
The IDF issued a statement saying that, in the past 24 hours, its forces have increased operational control of Gaza City, “dismantled military structures and combat compounds,” and “eliminated terrorists” in collaboration with the Israeli Air Force.
The IAF killed five militants who fired anti-tank missiles at a building where IDF forces were stationed, as well as attacking “140 military targets in the Gaza Strip, including military structures, terrorists, and additional military infrastructure,” according to a statement by the IDF spokesperson’s office.
A private fleet of around 50 vessels carrying humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip has resumed its journey, according to ship-tracking service MarineTraffic.
The boats of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), whose transponders were active on Sunday, were moving slowly about 50 kilometres south-east of the Greek island of Crete, the platform showed.
The flotilla had to pause its journey over the past two days due to stormy winds and organizational issues. Weather conditions have now improved.
It remains unclear whether the Spanish deep-sea patrol boat Furor and the Italian frigate Fasan, dispatched by Madrid and Rome to the eastern Mediterranean, have reached the flotilla. Both ships are intended to provide assistance if necessary, though how close they may approach the Israel-imposed blockade off Gaza is uncertain.
Israel has warned it may use force to prevent the flotilla from reaching Gaza’s coastline. The country has proposed that the activists redirect the aid to the Israeli port of Ashdod, from where it could be transferred to Gaza under controlled conditions.
Cyprus has also been discussed as an alternative staging point, with occasional aid shipments sent from there to Ashdod before reaching Gaza.
The flotilla organizers have rejected both options, insisting on delivering supplies directly to famine-hit Gaza.
The Global Sumud Flotilla set off from Barcelona in late August with hundreds of activists on board. “Sumud” means steadfastness in Arabic.
Last week, activists reported drone attacks on the fleet of ships, as well as flash grenades and disrupted radio communications.
Iran weighed Sunday how to respond to reimposed United Nations sanctions over its atomic program, with one lawmaker suggesting parliament would consider potentially withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Speaking to the Young Journalists Club, which is affiliated with Iranian state television, lawmaker Ismail Kowsari said Parliament would discuss withdrawing from the nuclear treaty.
“Parliament will discuss this issue … and decide on it,” he said.
Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf issued his own warning to those who would honor the UN sanctions as parliament began meeting Sunday.
“We announce that if any country wants to take action against Iran based on these illegal resolutions, it will face serious reciprocal action from Iran, and the three European countries that are the initiators of this illegal action will also face our reaction,” Qalibaf said without elaborating, according to a report by the state-run IRNA news agency.
The High Court of Justice ordered the government to respond by Tuesday to a petition submitted by several Israeli NGOs seeking to prevent the evacuation of Gaza’s hospitals, and to allow patients, medical supplies and medical teams to reach them.
The petition states that “even after two years during which Israel has occupied the Gaza Strip, Gazans have the right not to die due to lack of access to medical care.”
Submitted by Israeli NGOs the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), Physicians for Huaman Rights, and HaMoked – Center for the Defense of the Individual, the petition cites testimonies from doctors on the ground and UN data indicating that the health system in Gaza is collapsing.
Since the beginning of the month, four medical centers in Gaza have been closed, and the few operational hospitals have all been severely damaged by Israeli strikes, and are not properly equipped, according to the petition.
“The duty to protect medical institutions and pensure provision of care to the sick and wounded is a basic duty under international law and has also been recognized in rulings of the High Court of Justice. Forcing patients from hospitals and denying them the right to treatment is a cruel act,” wrote the organizations.
Protest activist Itzik Levy was arrested for the seventh time for reading out the names of hostages through a megaphone near the house of Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, from Netanyahu’s Likud party.
Footage from the scene shows seven police officers surrounding Levy’s car, with some trying to force it open. After several minutes, the police officers managed to open Levy’s car and arrest him.
Earlier this month, Levy attended a hearing before the deputy district Attorney of the Tel Aviv District on suspicion of violating a legal order.
Said order comes as part of a compromise related to protests outside Ohana’s home between the police and the Supreme Court.
As part of the compromise, the Tel Aviv District Police commander set the distance from a public official’s home at which a “loud” protest – one using loudspeakers – could be held, and the distance within which only a “quiet” protest was permitted.
Levy, who protests using a megaphone, was arrested, again, on suspicion of violating this framework and crossing the permitted boundary for a “loud” protest. Over time, he had begun broadcasting from his car, arguing that he could not be arrested there without a warrant.
To date, Levy has been arrested seven times.
In July, the Tel Aviv District Court ruled that Levy’s protests – in which he reads out the names of the hostages every day outside Ohana’s home – did not constitute a disturbance of public order, and the prosecutor’s office closed eight additional cases that had been opened against him.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated his opposition to the reimposition of UN snapback sanctions, saying that it was a “blatant abuse of process” and that the sanctions, which rely on a UN resolution set to expire next month, “cannot be revived.”
In a post on X, Araghchi said that “the U.S./E3 rejection of diplomacy is intent and premised on the miscalculation that ‘might makes right’, and that the Iranian People will give in to bullying.”
He stated that Germany, the U.K. and France “violated their obligations under the JCPOA and Resolution 2231, thereby forfeiting any right to now claim. Their invocation of the so-called snapback mechanism is nothing but a blatant abuse of process. UNSCR 2231 will expire on Oct 18, 2025. Terminated sanctions cannot be revived and any attempt to do is null and void.”
Trump’s plan for ending Israel’s war with Gaza includes an immediate cease-fire, followed by the release of all Israeli hostages within the next two days, according to a report in the Washington Post.
The plan veered between specific and non-specific elements, per the report. It stated that all of Hamas’ weapons would be destroyed, and some militants may be offered amnesty if they “commit to peaceful coexistence,” and given safe passage to other countries if they chose to leave.
In terms of hostage-to-prisoner exchange rate, the plan stipulated that “once all the hostages have been released, Israel will release 250 life sentence prisoners plus 1,700 Gazans who were detained after October 7 … For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 deceased Gazans.”
The plan also included commitments to transferring aid to Gazans through the United Nations and other institutions, but was not specific about which, nor did it say who would foot the bill. It also said that the IDF would eventually totally withdraw from Gaza, except for some “perimeter presence” which remained unspecified.
This new plan additionally requires that Israel promise that it will not conduct any more attacks on Qatar.
Finally, the plan states that once aforementioned steps are taken and reforms are made, “conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian Statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.”
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