PALESTINIAN resistance group Hamas is still waiting for a response from Israel to ceasefire proposals it agreed to in mid-August.

Hamas said today it was still awaiting a response “to the proposal presented to the movement by mediators on August 18, which was accepted by Hamas and the Palestinian factions.

“In this context, the movement reaffirms its readiness to move toward a comprehensive deal under which all enemy prisoners held by the resistance would be released in exchange for an agreed number of Palestinian prisoners held by the occupation, within an agreement that ends the war on the Gaza Strip, guarantees the withdrawal of all occupation forces from the entire Strip, reopens the crossings for the entry of all essential needs and launches the reconstruction process.”

Hamas added that it had agreed to “the formation of an independent national administration composed of technocrats to immediately assume responsibility for managing all affairs of the Gaza Strip across every sector.”

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office rejected Hamas’s statement, saying “the war can end immediately” on the conditions set by Israel’s cabinet, including the release of all Israeli captives and the Palestinian group’s disarmament.

Israeli media reported this week that Mr Netanyahu told his cabinet US President Donald Trump had discouraged any ceasefire talks, advising Israel to “go in with full force and finish it” (the war).

Meanwhile, Israeli forces killed at least 37 Palestinians in Gaza on Thursday, according to medical sources. Some 22 of those killed were in Gaza City as the Israelis continued to ramp up their attacks.

At least four aid seekers were among those killed in attacks in the central and southern parts of the Strip.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said that at least 370 Palestinians have died from starvation in the enclave since the start of Israel’s offensive in October 2023, including 131 children.

The ministry said at least three people have died of malnutrition in the Strip since Wednesday.

Palestinians continue to report that entire families are being wiped out.

Three-year-old Ibrahim was the sole survivor of an Israeli attack that ripped through a Gaza City apartment and killed his parents and siblings.

His grandmother, Umm Abu al-Abed Abu al-Jubein, said: “This column and all the rubble were lying on top of him. I don’t know how, but God saved him.

“He is the only one. His mother, father and two siblings were lost. We woke up to the boy screaming. We found my daughter in pieces; her husband and daughters were scattered around her.”

Health authorities in Gaza say more than 49,000 children in Gaza have lost one or both parents.