Hamas says it delivered 'positive response' on US Gaza ceasefire plan

Hamas says it has delivered a "positive response" to mediators on the latest proposal for a new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal put forward by the US.

The Palestinian armed group said on Friday night that it was "seriously ready to enter immediately into a round of negotiations", but it did not confirm whether it accepted the terms.

A senior Palestinian official told the BBC that Hamas had requested several changes, including a halt to a US-backed aid system and a US guarantee that the war would not resume if talks on ending the war failed.

Israel's government has not commented. US President Donald Trump said he had not been briefed but that it was "good" Hamas had responded positively.

"There could be a Gaza deal next week," he told reporters on board Air Force One.

The president is known to be very keen to announce positive news when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the White House next week.

On Tuesday, Trump said that Israel had accepted the "necessary conditions" for a 60-day ceasefire, during which the parties would work to end the war.

The plan is believed to include the staggered release of 10 living Israeli hostages by Hamas and the bodies of 18 other hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Fifty hostages are still being held in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

The proposal also reportedly says sufficient quantities of aid would enter Gaza immediately with the involvement of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The Palestinian official said Hamas was demanding aid be distributed exclusively by the UN and its partners, and that the controversial aid distribution system run by the Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) end immediately.

Another amendment demanded by Hamas was about Israeli troop withdrawals, according to the Palestinian official.

The US proposal is believed to include phased pull-outs from parts of Gaza. But the official said Hamas wanted troops to return to the positions they held before the last ceasefire collapsed in March, when Israel resumed its offensive.

The official said Hamas also wanted a US guarantee that Israeli air and ground operations would not resume even if the ceasefire ended without a permanent truce.

The proposal is believed to say mediators will guarantee that serious negotiations will take place from day one, and that they can extend the ceasefire if necessary.

The Israeli prime minister has ruled out ending the war until all of the hostages are released and Hamas's military and governing capabilities are destroyed.

Far-right ministers have also expressed their opposition to the proposed deal. They want Israeli operations to be stepped up and for aid deliveries to be suspended.

The Israeli military continued to bomb targets across the Gaza Strip on Friday.

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said in the afternoon that Israeli attacks had killed at least 138 Palestinians over the previous 24 hours.

On Thursday night, at least 15 Palestinians were killed in strikes on two tents housing displaced people in the southern Khan Younis area, the local Nasser hospital said.

Thirteen-year-old Mayar al-Farr's brother, Mahmoud, was among those killed.

"There should have been a ceasefire long ago before I lost my brother," she told Reuters news agency at his funeral.

Adlar Mouamar, whose nephew Ashraf was also killed, said: "Our hearts are broken... We want them to end the bloodshed."

The Israeli military has not yet commented on the strikes, but did say its forces were "operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities".

Meanwhile, medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières said a former colleague was one of at least 16 people killed on Thursday when Israeli forces reportedly fired on people waiting for aid lorries in Khan Younis. The Israeli military has not yet commented.

The UN human rights office said on Friday that it had recorded the killing of 509 people near the GHF's aid distribution centres and 104 other people near aid convoys.

A spokeswoman said the office was working to verify the figures and ascertain who was responsible, but that it was "clear that the Israeli military has shelled and shot at Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points".

The GHF said the UN figures were coming "directly" from Gaza's health ministry and were being used to "falsely smear" its efforts. Its chairman insisted this week there had not been any violent incidents at or in close proximity to its sites.

The Israeli military has said reports of "extensive" casualties at the GHF's sites are "lies".

In the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, the families of the remaining hostages and their supporters held a rally outside the US embassy branch office on Friday, urging Trump to "make the deal" that would see them all released.

On the nearby beachfront, they laid out a giant banner featuring the US flag and the words "liberty for all".

Among those who addressed the event was Ruby Chen, the father of Israeli-American Itay Chen. The 19-year-old soldier was killed during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023 which triggered the war, and his body was taken back to Gaza as a hostage, according to the Israeli military.

"I urge you Prime Minister Netanyahu to go to the US next week and bring back a deal that brings all the hostages home," Mr Chen said.

Keith Siegel, an Israeli American who was released in February during the last ceasefire after 484 days in captivity, said: "Only a comprehensive deal can bring them all home and create a better future for the Middle East."

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 57,268 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry.

Additional reporting by David Gritten in Jerusalem