“DIE OF HUNGER”
Sheikh Mohammed confirmed that the framework, which he said “might lead to a ceasefire permanently in the future”, includes a phased truce that would see women and children hostages released first, with aid also entering besieged Gaza.
A senior Hamas official, Taher al-Nunu, said it wanted a “complete and comprehensive ceasefire, not a temporary truce”, though it was not immediately clear whether Hamas officials had received the Qatari text.
Once the fighting stopped, Nunu told AFP, “the rest of the details can be discussed” including hostage releases.
Israel has called the Paris talks “constructive” but pointed to “significant gaps which the parties will continue to discuss”, while US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, “there’s a lot of work that has to be done”.
The war was sparked by the Hamas attack which resulted in about 1,140 deaths, mostly civilians, in southern Israel, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
Militants also seized 250 hostages, of whom Israel says around 132 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 28 dead captives.
Israel’s relentless military offensive has killed at least 26,637 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.