GAZA: Hamas responded to US-backed ceasefire proposals on Saturday, saying it had agreed to release 28 living and dead captives but restating its demand for an end to the war and a withdrawal of Zionist troops from Gaza. The Palestinian group said it would release 10 living captives and hand over the bodies of 18 dead in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in Zionist prisons.

A Hamas official described the group’s response to the proposals from US President Donald Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff as “positive” but said it was seeking some amendments. “This response aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and to ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to our people in the Strip,” Hamas said in a statement.

The proposals would see a 60-day truce and the exchange of 28 of the 58 hostages still held in Gaza for more than 1,200 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, along with the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave. A Palestinian official familiar with the talks told Reuters that among amendments Hamas is seeking is the release of the hostages in three phases over the 60-day truce and more aid distribution in different areas. Hamas also wants guarantees the deal will lead to a permanent ceasefire, the official said.

Israel has previously rejected Hamas’ conditions, instead demanding the complete disarmament of the group and its dismantling as a military and governing force, along with the return of all 58 remaining hostages. Trump said on Friday he believed a ceasefire agreement was close after the latest proposals, and the White House said on Thursday that the Zionist entity had agreed to the terms.

Hamas said on Friday that the Zionist response to the proposals, which has not been made public, was unacceptable but it had agreed to consider the plan due to a “deep sense of responsibility toward our people”. US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce declined to confirm a Hamas response or provide any details. But, in an interview with Fox News, she said the United States would not take Hamas at its word but wait to see its actions.

On Saturday, the Zionist military, which relaunched its air and ground campaign in March following a two-month truce, said it was continuing to hit targets in Gaza. The campaign has cleared large areas along the boundaries of the Gaza Strip, squeezing the population of more than 2 million into an ever narrower section along the coast and around the southern city of Khan Younis.

The United Nations said on Friday the situation in Gaza is the worst since the start of the war began 19 months ago, with the entire population facing the risk of famine despite a resumption of limited aid deliveries earlier this month. “The aid that’s being sent now makes a mockery of the mass tragedy unfolding under our watch,” Philippe Lazzarini, head of the main UN relief organization for Palestinians UNRWA, said in a message on the social media platform X.

Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, called Gaza “the hungriest place on Earth”. “It’s the only defined area – a country or defined territory within a country – where you have the entire population at risk of famine. 100 percent of the population at risk of famine,” he said, rejecting claims to the contrary by Zionist authorities.

On Saturday, aid groups said dozens of World Food Program trucks carrying flour to Gaza bakeries had been hijacked by armed groups and subsequently looted by people desperate for food after weeks of mounting hunger. “After nearly 80 days of a total blockade, communities are starving and they are no longer willing to watch food pass them by,” the WFP said in a statement.

Amjad Al-Shawa, head of an umbrella group representing Palestinian aid groups, said the dire situation was being exploited by armed groups which were attacking some of the aid convoys. He said hundreds more trucks were needed and accused the Zionist entity of a “systematic policy of starvation”. – Agencies