Camille Naredo

Palestinian militant group Hamas fighters secure an area before handing over two Israeli hostages to a Red Cross team in Khan Yunis on February 1, 2025, as part of fourth hostage-prisoner exchange. Eyad Baba, AFP/File

Palestinian militant group Hamas fighters secure an area before handing over two Israeli hostages to a Red Cross team in Khan Yunis on February 1, 2025, as part of fourth hostage-prisoner exchange. The Israeli military said the two freed hostages had now crossed into Israeli territory after they were released by Hamas on February 1. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)

Article (news)

GAZA

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1745670503951AFP__20250201__36WQ77V__v2__Preview__TopshotPalestinianIsraelConflictHostage.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Palestinian militant group Hamas fighters secure an area before handing over two Israeli hostages to a Red Cross team in Khan Yunis on February 1, 2025, as part of fourth hostage-prisoner exchange. Eyad Baba, AFP/File"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Palestinian militant group Hamas fighters secure an area before handing over two Israeli hostages to a Red Cross team in Khan Yunis on February 1, 2025, as part of fourth hostage-prisoner exchange. <em>Eyad Baba, AFP/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>CAIRO, Egypt -- Hamas is open to an agreement to end the war in Gaza that would see all hostages released and secure a five-year truce, an official said Saturday ahead of talks with mediators.</p><p>A Hamas delegation was in Cairo to discuss with Egyptian mediators ways out of the 18-month war, as on the ground rescuers said an Israeli strike on a family home in Gaza City killed at least 10 people and left more feared buried under the rubble.</p><p>The Hamas official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the Palestinian militant group &quot;is ready for an exchange of prisoners in a single batch and a truce for five years&quot;.</p><p>The latest bid to seal a ceasefire follows an Israeli proposal which Hamas had rejected earlier this month as &quot;partial&quot;, calling instead for a &quot;comprehensive&quot; agreement to halt the war ignited by the group&#x27;s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.</p><p>The Israeli offer included a 45-day ceasefire in exchange for the return of 10 living hostages.</p><p>Hamas has consistently demanded that a truce deal must lead to an end to the war, a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and a surge in humanitarian aid into the besieged territory -- where on Friday the United Nations warned food stocks were running out.</p><p>Israel, for its part, demands the return of all hostages seized in the 2023 attack, and Hamas&#x27;s disarmament, which the group has rejected as a &quot;red line&quot;.</p><p>More than a month into a renewed Israeli offensive in Gaza after a two-month truce, a Hamas official said earlier this week that its delegation in Cairo would discuss &quot;new ideas&quot; on a ceasefire.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/4/23/abbas-urges-hamas-to-free-gaza-hostages-as-israeli-strikes-kill-25-0121">READ: Abbas urges Hamas to free Gaza hostages as Israeli strikes kill 25</a></div><div><strong>- &#x27;The house collapsed&#x27; -</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vjhGELWV90w?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>In Gaza City, in the territory&#x27;s north, the civil defense agency said a strike on the Al-Khour family home killed 10 people, with an estimated 20 more trapped in the debris.</p><p>Umm Walid al-Khour, who survived the attack, said that &quot;everyone was sleeping with their children&quot; when the strike hit.</p><p>&quot;The house collapsed on top of us,&quot; she told AFP.</p><p>&quot;Those who survived cried for help but nobody came... Most of the deceased were children.&quot;</p><p>Elsewhere in the city, three people were killed in Israeli shelling of a house in the Al-Shati refugee camp, civil defence official Mohammed al-Mughayyir said.</p><p>More strikes across the Gaza Strip killed four others.</p><p>There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.</p><p>Qatar, the United States and Egypt brokered one truce which began on January 19 and enabled a surge in aid, alongside exchanges of hostages and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.</p><p>But it collapsed amid disagreements over the terms of the ceasefire&#x27;s next stage.</p><p>After blocking aid during the impasse in negotiations, Israel resumed bombarding Gaza on March 18, followed by a ground offensive.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/4/24/gaza-rescuers-say-new-israeli-strikes-kill-22-1703">READ: Gaza rescuers say new Israeli strikes kill 22</a></div><div><strong>- Low on food, medical supplies -</strong></div><p>Since then, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, at least 2,111 Palestinians have been killed, taking the overall war death toll in Gaza to 51,495 people.</p><p>The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.</p><p>Militants also abducted 251 people, 58 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.</p><p>Israel says the renewed military campaign aims to force Hamas to free the remaining captives.</p><p>On Friday, the UN&#x27;s World Food Programme (WFP) -- one of the main providers of food aid in the Palestinian territory -- said it had &quot;delivered its last remaining food stocks to hot meals kitchens in the Gaza Strip&quot;.</p><p>It said &quot;these kitchens are expected to fully run out of food in the coming days&quot;.</p><p>Following the WFP warning, the World Health Organization&#x27;s chief said medical supplies were also &quot;running out&quot; in Gaza while 16 WHO trucks wait to enter.</p><p>&quot;This aid blockade must end. Lives depend on it&quot;, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.</p><p>Despite warnings from aid agencies and foreign governments, Israel has denied there is hunger in Gaza and says blocking aid is meant to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>Hamas is open to an agreement to end the war in Gaza that would see all hostages released and secure a five-year truce, an official said Saturday ahead of talks with mediators.</p>

Hamas is open to an agreement to end the war in Gaza that would see all hostages released and secure a five-year truce, an official said Saturday ahead of talks with mediators.

Hamas says open to 5-year truce, one-time hostages release

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Hamas says open to 5-year truce, one-time hostages release

Agence France-Presse

Published April 26, 2025 09:01 PM PHT

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