Hamas ponders new ceasefire deal offer with ‘positive spirit’

The UN warns rebuilding the devastated Gaza Strip would require efforts not seen since World War II.

A Palestinian with child pulls a cart past destroyed buildings in Khan Younis. Picture: AFP

Hamas says it is considering in a “positive spirit” a Gaza truce deal, while the UN warned rebuilding the devastated Palestinian territory would require efforts not seen since World War II.

After months of stop-start negotiations, Hamas sounded an optimistic tone about the latest hostages-for-ceasefire proposal, raising hopes an agreement may soon be reached – even as medics in the besieged Gaza Strip reported fresh strikes on Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah on Friday.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said the militant group will “soon” send a delegation to Egypt to complete ongoing ceasefire discussions for a deal that “realises the demands of our people”.

Haniyeh, leader of Hamas’s political wing, told Egyptian and Qatari mediators in calls on Thursday Hamas was studying the latest proposal from Israel with a “positive spirit”.

A UN report estimated it could take 80 years to reconstruct all the homes razed over the course of the nearly seven-month war.

“The scale of destruction is huge and unprecedented … this is a mission that the global community has not dealt with since World War II,” UN Development Program regional director for Arab States Abdallah al-Dardari told a briefing in Jordan.

The only truce so far was a week-long deal in November that saw 105 hostages freed for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

AFP