Israel accepts US Gaza ceasefire proposal as Hamas mulls over it

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that his government accepts U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff's proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release, state-owned Kan TV news reported.

According to Kan, Netanyahu made the remarks during a meeting with families of hostages who are believed to be deceased.

Netanyahu's office was not immediately ready to comment.

The White House said on Thursday that Israel has signed off on a 60-day Gaza ceasefire proposal as Israeli army continues its military actions in the war-torn area.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed at a press briefing that Israel signed off on this proposal before it was sent to Hamas.

Earlier on Thursday, Hamas said in a statement that it had received the proposal and its leadership is studying it and Israel's response in a responsible manner, considering that the people in Gaza are suffering genocide.

"The Hamas leadership has received Witkoff's new proposal from the mediators and is responsibly studying it in a way that serves the interests of our people, provides relief, and achieves a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip," it said.

Quoting a senior Israeli official, Kan reported that the proposal includes a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for the release of 10 living hostages and 18 bodies in two phases. Israel would release 1,236 Palestinian detainees and prisoners, along with the bodies of 180 Palestinians.

The proposal does not require Israel to commit to ending its 19-month offensive in Gaza, but requires that both Israel and Hamas engage in negotiations on a long-term truce. The United States, Egypt and Qatar will serve as guarantors of the ceasefire deal.

Israel estimated that 58 hostages remain in Gaza, including 20 believed to be alive.

Israel ended a previous three-phase ceasefire deal in March, following two months of truce during which Hamas released 33 hostages. Israel declined to proceed with the second phase and resumed its assault on Gaza on March 18.

The death toll in Gaza from the Israeli attacks has topped 54,000 since the start of the conflict in October 2023, according to the latest figure from Gaza's health authorities.

Israel accepts US Gaza ceasefire proposal as Hamas mulls over it

Israel accepts US Gaza ceasefire proposal as Hamas mulls over it

Israel accepts US Gaza ceasefire proposal as Hamas mulls over it

The death toll from a landfill collapse in the central Philippine city of Cebu has risen to eight by Monday morning as search and rescue operations continued for another 28 missing people.

The landfill collapse occurred on Thursday as dozens of sanitation workers were working at the site. The disaster has already caused injuries of 18 people.

Family members of the missing people said the rescue progress is slow, and the hope for the survival of their loved ones is fading.

"For me, maybe I’ve accepted the worst result already because the garbage is poisonous and yesterday, it was raining very hard the whole day. Maybe they’ve been poisoned. For us, alive or dead, I hope we can get their bodies out of the garbage rubble," said Maria Kareen Rubin, a family member of a victim.

Families have set up camps on high ground near the landfill, awaiting news of their relatives. Some people at the site said cries for help could still be heard hours after the landfill collapsed, but these voices gradually faded away.

Bienvenido Ranido, who lost his wife in the disaster, said he can't believe all that happened.

"After they gave my wife oxygen, my kids and I were expecting that she would be saved that night because she was still alive. But the night came and till the next morning, they didn't manage to save her," he said.

Death toll in central Philippine landfill collapse rises to eight