US envoy to Israel urges Hamas to sign deal so aid can enter Gaza

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — The new US ambassador to Israel on Monday called on Palestinian militant group Hamas to accept a deal that would secure the release of hostages, in exchange for the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

"We call upon Hamas to sign an agreement so that humanitarian aid can flow into Gaza to the people who desperately need it," Mike Huckabee said in a video statement on X.

"When that happens, and hostages are released which is an urgent matter for all of us, then we hope that the humanitarian aid will flow and flow freely knowing it will be done without Hamas being able to confiscate and abuse their own people", he added.

Huckabee's message comes after Hamas on Thursday signalledits rejection of Israel's latest truce proposal, which a Hamas source said proposed a hostage-prisoner swap and the entry of aid.

The militants' chief negotiator said the group rejected any "partial" agreements and sought a comprehensive deal including "halting the war" and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

The war began in October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel.

Qatar, with the United States and Egypt, brokered a truce in Gaza between Israel and Hamas which began on January 15 and enabled a surge in aid, alongside the exchange of hostages and prisoners.

The initial phase of the truce ended in early March, with the two sides unable to agree on the next steps.

Hamas had insisted that negotiations be held for a second phase of the truce, leading to a permanent end to the war, as outlined in the January framework.

Israel sought an extension of the first phase. It blocked all aid to Gaza on March 2 and then resumed its air and ground offensive against Hamas on March 18.

Israel has accused the Palestinian militant group of diverting aid, which Hamas denies.

Last week the United Nations said Gaza was facing its most severe humanitarian crisis since the war began.

The heads of 12 major aid organisations warned on Thursday that "famine is not just a risk, but likely rapidly unfolding in almost all parts" of the territory.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Tuesday that seven people were killed in fresh Israeli air strikes across the Hamas-run territory.

"The occupation launched violent air strikes on Gaza City and the towns of Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun, and Khan Yunis, killing seven civilians," civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal told AFP.

Four people were killed in the Al-Rimal area near Gaza City, two in Al-Sabra west of Gaza City and one in Khan Yunis.

"The occupation also destroyed more than 10 homes east of Gaza City and in Rafah," he added.

The Israeli military, which did not immediately comment, has intensified its aerial bombardments and expanded its ground operations in the Gaza Strip since it resumed its offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory on March 18.

Gaza's civil defence agency on Monday accused the Israeli military of carrying out "summary executions" in the killing of 15 rescue workers last month, rejecting the findings of an internal probe by the army.

At least 1,691 people have been killed in Gaza since the military resumed its offensive, bringing the total death toll since the war erupted to at least 51,065, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.