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<h1>Hamas says no news on truce deal as tens of thousands of Israelis protest</h1><p class="gmail-article__subhead"><em>Antigovernment
protest organizers in Tel Aviv estimated 130,000 converged downtown on
Saturday night demanding an immediate ceasefire deal to bring the
captives home from Gaza.</em></p><div class="gmail-responsive-image"><img src="https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/TelAviv-1719693621.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80" alt="" width="408" height="272" style="margin-right: 25px;"></div>People
attend a mass demonstration in <span>Tel Aviv</span>
against Benjamin Netanyahu's government and demand the release of
captives in Gaza on Saturday [Eloisa Lopez/Reuters]<div class="gmail-article-info-block"><div class="gmail-article-b-l"><div class="gmail-article-dates"><div class="gmail-date-simple gmail-css-1yjq2zp"><span class="gmail-screen-reader-text">Published On 29 Jun 2024</span><span aria-hidden="true"> - </span><font size="1"><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/29/hamas-says-no-news-on-truce-deal-as-tens-of-thousands-of-israelis-protest">https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/29/hamas-says-no-news-on-truce-deal-as-tens-of-thousands-of-israelis-protest</a></font></div></div></div><div class="gmail-social-share-buttons"><div class="gmail-update-reading-list"></div></div></div><div class="gmail-update-reading-list"><span class="gmail-update-reading-list__tooltip" role="tooltip"></span></div><a class="gmail-social-share-button" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Share on Facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Faje.io%2F30y492"></a><a class="gmail-social-share-button" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Share on Twitter" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Hamas%20says%20no%20news%20on%20truce%20deal%20as%20tens%20of%20thousands%20of%20Israelis%20protest&source=sharethiscom&related=sharethis&via=AJEnglish&url=https%3A%2F%2Faje.io%2F30y492"></a><a class="gmail-social-share-button gmail-copylink" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Copy link" href="https://aje.io/30y492"></a><p>Hamas
says there’s been no progress in ceasefire talks with Israel over the
war on Gaza as tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of
Tel Aviv demanding the government save the captives and get a deal done.</p>
<p>Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official based in Lebanon, said on
Saturday the Palestinian group is still ready to discuss any truce
proposal that ends the nearly nine-month conflict.</p>
<p>“Once again, Hamas is ready to deal positively with any proposal that
secures a permanent ceasefire, a comprehensive withdrawal from the Gaza
Strip, and a serious swap deal,” Hamdan told a news conference in
Beirut.</p>
<p>Arab mediators’ efforts, backed by the United States, have so far
failed to conclude a ceasefire with both sides blaming each other for
the impasse. Hamas says any deal must end the war for good and bring
full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel says it will accept only
temporary pauses in fighting until Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since
2007, is “eradicated”.</p>
<p>Hamdan also blamed the United States for applying pressure on Hamas to accept Israel’s conditions.</p>
<p>Antigovernment protest organisers in Tel Aviv estimated 130,000
Israelis converged downtown on Saturday night demanding an immediate
truce deal to bring the captives home.</p>
<p>At a news conference held outside the defence ministry, family members of those held in Gaza made statements to the crowd.</p>
<p>“Do not let Netanyahu sabotage the deal again. Netanyahu’s insistence
on prolonging the war stands between us and our loved ones,” one
unidentified relative said.</p>
<p>“Continuing the war means killing the hostages at the hands of the
Israeli government. The people understand that Netanyahu prolongs the
war for personal reasons – reaching a deal would lead to early elections
and end his rule.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<h2 id="gmail-new-american-text">New American text</h2>
<p>On Saturday, The Associated Press news agency quoted an unnamed
“senior Biden administration official” as saying the US has presented
new language to intermediaries Egypt and Qatar aimed at trying to
jump-start stalled Israel-Hamas negotiations.</p>
<p>The official said the revised text focuses on negotiations that are
to start between Israel and Hamas during the first phase of a
three-phase deal that US President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/2/how-significant-is-bidens-gaza-peace-plan-will-hamas-and-israel-agree">laid out nearly a month ago</a>.</p>
<p>The first phase calls for a “full and complete ceasefire”, a
withdrawal of Israeli forces from all densely populated areas of Gaza,
and the release of a number of captives – including women, older people
and the wounded – in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian
prisoners.</p>
<p>The proposal called for the parties to negotiate the terms of the
second phase during the 42 days of phase one. Under the current
proposal, Hamas could release all of the remaining men, both civilians
and soldiers. In return, Israel could free an agreed-upon number of
Palestinian prisoners and detainees. The releases will not occur until
“sustainable calm” takes effect and all Israeli troops withdraw from
Gaza.</p>
<p>The new proposed language, which the official did not detail, aims to
find a workaround for differences between Israel and Hamas regarding
the parameters of the negotiations between phase one and phase two.</p>
<p>Hamas wants negotiations centred on the number and identity of
Palestinian prisoners to be released from Israeli jails, in exchange for
remaining living Israeli soldiers and male captives held in Gaza, the
official said. Israel wants negotiations to be broader and include the
demilitarisation of the territory controlled by Hamas.</p>
<p>Hamdan said the group had yet to receive a new ceasefire proposal
from mediators. Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh spoke by phone
with the head of Egypt’s intelligence service to discuss the
negotiations, Hamas said in a statement.</p>
<p><img class="gmail-size-arc-image-770 gmail-wp-image-2967240" src="https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/INTERACTIVE-Gaza-ceasefire-proposal-phases-1718088744.png?w=770&resize=770%2C769&quality=80" alt="INTERACTIVE - Gaza ceasefire proposal phases-1718088744" width="408" height="407" style="margin-right: 0px;"></p>
<h2 id="gmail-growing-fears-of-wider-war">Growing fears of wider war</h2>
<p>Talks of a truce come as pressure mounts on regional and world
leaders to bring a halt to the Gaza war as fears of its expansion into
Lebanon rise. Both Hamas ally Hezbollah and Israel officials have
threatened major escalation over the past week.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/29/hezbollahs-plans-israels-threats-is-either-side-ready-for-war">Analysts have said</a>
a full-out war in northern Israel and southern Lebanon would be
catastrophic for the Middle East. Seven countries have called on their
nationals to urgently leave Lebanon, the latest being Saudi Arabia,
which urged its citizens to “depart the Lebanese territory immediately”.</p>
<p>Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant threatened this week to bomb Lebanon <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/27/israel-warns-can-send-lebanon-back-to-stone-age-as-un-seeks-de-escalation">“back to the Stone Age”</a> if major conflict erupted. Hezbollah’s main ally Iran warned Israel of an “<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/29/iran-warns-israel-of-obliterating-war-if-it-attacks-lebanon">obliterating war</a>” if it attacked Lebanon.</p>
<p>Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Saturday highlighted the
prospect of an “unprecedented” war in the region, calling for urgent
international intervention to prevent the “expansion of the gravely
escalating conflict”.</p>
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