ISRAEL has put forward a proposal for an extended truce in Gaza in exchange for Hamas returning half the remaining hostages that it captured on October 7, 2023.

This comes as Israeli forces issued fresh evacuation orders and warned they were planning “intense operations” in southern Gaza around the city of Rafah.

The proposal would see the return of half the 24 hostages still believed to be alive and around half of the 35 assumed to be dead. The proposed truce would reportedly last between 40 to 50 days.

Israel, which unilaterally broke the ceasefire that had been in place since January in mid-March, said the new deal would leave room for an agreement to be reached that would end the fighting.

The Israelis are also demanding Hamas give up power, disarm and send its leaders into exile. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Hamas leaders would be allowed to leave under a wider deal put forward by US President Donald Trump for the “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians from Gaza.

Many experts have described such a move as ethnic cleansing and a crime against humanity.

Hamas said on Saturday that it has accepted a new Gaza ceasefire proposal from mediators Egypt and Qatar.

But Israel said it was making a counter-proposal in “full co-ordination” with the third mediator, the US.

Egypt said the proposal it was putting forward would lead to Hamas releasing five living hostages, including an American-Israeli, from Gaza in return for Israel allowing aid into the territory and a pause in fighting. 

Hamas has said it will only release the remaining captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

The sweeping evacuation orders issued by Israel yesterday covered most of the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.

Israel launched a major operation in Rafah, on the border with Egypt, last May, leaving large parts of it in ruins.

Meanwhile, the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) said yesterday that it has filed a criminal complaint before the Romanian prosecutor’s office against an Israeli soldier from the Givati Brigade.

HRF accuses Orel Benyaish of “committing war crimes and acts of genocide” during Israel’s ongoing military operations in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, HRF said: “The evidence submitted includes images and videos posted by Benyaish himself, showing his direct involvement in the destruction of residential buildings in the Netzarim corridor.”