Israel accepts US plan for temporary Gaza ceasefire

Israel has accepted a new U.S. proposal for a temporary ceasefire with Hamas, the White House said Thursday.

President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, expressed optimism earlier this week about brokering an agreement to halt the Israel-Hamas war and return more of the hostages captured in the attack that ignited it.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Israel “backed and supported” the new proposal.

Hamas officials gave the Israeli-approved draft a cool response, but said they wanted to study the proposal more closely before giving a formal answer.

Bassem Naim, a top Hamas official, told The Associated Press the terrorist group would study the proposal “with all national responsibility.”

Hamas had previously said it had agreed with Witkoff on a “general framework” of an agreement that would lead to a lasting ceasefire, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, an influx of aid, and a transfer of power from the terrorist group to a politically independent committee of Palestinians.

Chaos erupted again Thursday as tens of thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip tried to collect food from distribution sites run by a new U.S.- and Israeli-backed foundation.

The Israeli military said it has facilitated the entry of nearly 1,000 truckloads of supplies into Gaza recently and accused the U.N. of failing to distribute the goods. It said Hamas was responsible for the crisis by stealing aid and refusing to release the remaining hostages.

In its statement Thursday, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said it has distributed more than 32,200 boxes of food since Monday. It says each box, which contains basics like sugar, lentils, pasta and rice, can make 58 meals. It said it will scale up to start operations at a fourth center and will build additional hubs in the weeks ahead.

GHF has opened hubs in three locations — two in the far south around the city of Rafah, and the other in central Gaza near the Netzarim corridor, a strip of territory controlled by Israeli forces.

The military’s spokesman, Brig. Gen. Effei Defrin, said the army will continue “to provide for the humanitarian needs of the civilian population while taking necessary steps to ensure that the aid does not reach the hands of Hamas.”

Separately on Thursday, Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 34 people, according to officials at the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. Also, Israel said it would establish 22 more Jewish settlements in the West Bank.