Israel has received an offer from mediators in the Gaza Strip and has made a counter-offer, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a series of consultations following the offer received from the mediators. In the last few hours, Israel, in full cooperation with the United States, presented its counter-offer to the mediators," the statement said.
Earlier, the Israeli television and radio company Kan, citing its sources, reported that the Palestinian radical movement Hamas may release several hostages to ensure a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip during the Eid al-Fitr holiday.
„Hamas“ released a new video today of an Israeli hostage in Gaza, AFP reported.
In the video, the hostage calls on the Israeli government to negotiate his release.
The video is over three minutes long. The date it was filmed cannot be verified. In the video, the hostage raises his hands several times in a sign of a request to be released.
The Israeli forces announced the expansion of their ground operation to the south in the Gaza Strip, BTA reported.
"In the past few hours, the military launched a ground operation in the Al-Janin area of Rafah with the aim of expanding the security zone to the south in Gaza“, the Israeli forces' press service said in a statement.
The Israeli army's operation in the Rafah area began on March 20.
In addition, the Israeli forces will continue to carry out air strikes on terrorist sites of “Hamas“ and “Islamic Jihad“ in every district of Gaza.
Among the sites attacked in recent days were weapons depots, rocket launchers, military facilities from which the terrorists operated. Dozens of terrorists were also eliminated, the Israeli forces said.
Nine Palestinian paramedics have been reported missing for a week in southern Gaza after being attacked by the Israeli army, the Palestinian Red Crescent said today, DPA reported.
The organization also accused the Israeli authorities of preventing a rescue team from searching for the missing people in the Tal al-Sultan refugee camp, north of Rafah.
“We condemn Israel for deliberately obstructing search efforts and hold (the state) responsible for the lives of our team members“, the organization wrote in “X” and called on the international community to pressure Israeli authorities to reveal what happened to the missing paramedics.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that suspicious vehicles had approached Israeli soldiers who had just "neutralized several Hamas terrorists" in southern Gaza on Sunday.
“Initial investigation indicates that the vehicles were moving without prior coordination and without headlights or hazard lights“, after which Israeli soldiers opened fire on the vehicles, the Israeli military said.
“Following an initial investigation, it was determined that some of the suspicious vehicles that were moving towards the military were ambulances and fire engines,“ the Israeli military added.
The Israel Defense Forces condemned “the repeated use of civilian infrastructure by terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, including the use of medical facilities and ambulances for terrorist purposes“.
The army statement did not address the issue of the missing paramedics.
The war in Gaza began on October 7 2023, when fighters from the Palestinian terrorist group “Hamas“ invaded Israel and killed at least a thousand people. Israel begins an operation in Gaza aimed at eliminating the group.
The conflict in the enclave has killed at least 50,000 people, according to Palestinian sources, and after a two-month ceasefire, fighting has recently resumed, BTA recalls.