Gaza buffer zone plan outlined ahead of key Netanyahu-Trump meeting

Deir al-Balah, Gaza: New details of the Gaza ceasefire proposal have emerged, including a possible buffer zone and a major increase in humanitarian aid, as Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met in Qatar ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s White House visit on Monday.

“There are 20 hostages that are alive, 30 dead. I am determined, we are determined, to bring them all back. And we will also be determined to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” Netanyahu said before departing, emphasising the goal of eliminating Hamas’ military and governing power.

An Israeli army vehicle moves along the Gaza border in southern Israel on Sunday.Credit: AP

A person familiar with the negotiations shared with the Associated Press a copy of the latest ceasefire proposal submitted by mediators to Hamas, and its veracity was confirmed by two other people familiar with the document. All three spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the sensitive talks with the media.

The document outlines plans for a 60-day ceasefire during which Hamas would hand over 10 living and 18 dead hostages, Israeli forces would withdraw to a buffer zone along Gaza’s borders with Israel and Egypt, and significant amounts of aid would be brought in.

The document says the aid would be distributed by UN agencies and the Palestinian Red Crescent, but does not specify what will happen to the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been distributing food aid since May.

The Qatar talks ended inconclusively, two Palestinian sources told AP, adding that the Israeli delegation didn’t have a sufficient mandate to reach an agreement with Hamas.

Before leaving for Washington, Netanyahu said the Israeli negotiators taking part had clear instructions to achieve an agreement under conditions that Israel has accepted.

Trump guarantee

As in previous ceasefire agreements, Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli facilities would be released in exchange for the hostages, but the number is not yet agreed upon.

The proposal stops short of guaranteeing a permanent end to the war – a condition demanded by Hamas – but says negotiations for a permanent ceasefire would take place during the 60 days.

Displaced Palestinians bake bread in a school now serving as a shelter in Deir al-Balah, Gaza.Credit: AP

During that time, “President [Donald] Trump guarantees Israel’s adherence” to halting military operations, the document says, adding that Trump “will personally announce the ceasefire agreement”.

The personal guarantee by Trump appeared to be an attempt to reassure Hamas that Israel would not unilaterally resume fighting as it did in March during a previous ceasefire, when talks to extend it appeared to stall.

Trump said last week that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire, but it was unclear if the terms were those in the document reviewed by AP.

Hamas has requested some changes, but has not specified them.

Separately, an Israeli official said the security cabinet late on Saturday approved sending aid into northern Gaza, where civilians suffer from acute food shortages.

Hamas is still holding 20 living hostages inside Gaza.Credit: AP

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the decision with media, declined to give more details.

Northern Gaza has seen just a trickle of aid enter since Israel ended the latest ceasefire in March. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s closest distribution site is near the Netzarim corridor, south of Gaza City, that separates the territory’s north and south.

Israel hits 130 targets across Gaza

In Gaza, hospital officials said Israeli airstrikes killed at least 38 Palestinians on Sunday.

Israeli strikes hit two houses in Gaza City, killing 20 Palestinians and wounding 25 others, said Mohammed Abu Selmia, director of Shifa Hospital, which serves the area.

Israel’s military said it had struck several Hamas fighters in two locations in the area of Gaza City.

In southern Gaza, Israeli strikes killed 18 Palestinians in Mawasi, on the Mediterranean coast, where thousands of displaced people live in tents, said officials at Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis. It said two families were among the dead.

“My brother, his wife, his four children, my cousin’s son and his daughter ... Eight people are gone,” said Saqer Abu Al-Kheir as people gathered on the sand for prayers and burials.

Israel’s military had no immediate comment on those strikes but said it had struck 130 targets across Gaza in the past 24 hours, including Hamas command and control structures, storage facilities, weapons and launchers, and that they had killed a number of militants.

Separately, Israel attacked Houthi targets in three Yemeni ports and a power plant, the Israeli military said on Monday, marking the first Israeli attack on Yemen in almost a month.

Residents told Reuters the Israeli strikes on the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah put the main power station out of service, leaving the city in darkness.

The Houthi military spokesperson said air defences confronted the Israeli attack “by using a large number of domestically produced surface-to-air missiles”.

Rift over ending the war

Ahead of the indirect talks with Hamas in Qatar, Netanyahu’s office asserted that the militant group was seeking “unacceptable” changes to the ceasefire proposal. Hamas gave a “positive” response late on Friday to the latest proposal.

The militant group has sought guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Previous negotiations have stalled over Hamas’ demands for guarantees that further negotiations would lead to the war’s end, while Netanyahu has insisted Israel would resume fighting to ensure the group’s destruction.

The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Most have been released in earlier ceasefires.

Israel responded with an offensive that has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, over half of them women and children, says Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas government, does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. The UN and other international organisations consider their figures to be the most reliable statistics on war casualties.

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