Hamas says ready for 'immediate' indirect talks with Israel to end Gaza war

Hamas on Sunday said it was ready to enter indirect negotiations with Israel to break the deadlock in negotiations to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.

"The movement affirms its readiness to immediately embark on an indirect round of negotiations to reach an agreement on points of contention," the Palestinian armed group said in a statement.

This came shortly after mediators Egypt and Qatar vowed to continue trying to break the impasse over an Israel-backed ceasefire proposal put forward by the Trump administration.

Bringing a permanent end to the 20-month war remains the key sticking point between the two sides.

Israel has refused to agree to any truce that would require it to negotiate ending the war, while Hamas has demanded a personal guarantee from US President Donald Trump that the Israelis would engage in such discussions immediately after the start of a temporary ceasefire.

A proposal submitted by Trump ally Bishara Bahbah last month had included such a guarantee but was rejected by the Israelis, who say they will only agree to US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff's framework.

Under this plan, both sides would observe a 60-day truce and exchange a number of prisoners, but Israel would not be required to discuss ending the war.

Hamas reiterated its demands for a guarantee in a counterproposal submitted on Sunday, which Witkoff dismissed as "totally unacceptable".

The group has offered to release all the remaining Israeli captives and cede control of Gaza in return for a permanent end to the war, but refuses to lay down its arms.

Israeli army chief orders expansion of genocidal offensive

Israel will expand its devastating ground offensive into new areas in Gaza's north and south following orders on Sunday from the military leadership.

Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir ordered a widening of the campaign on the instruction of the defence minister, Israel Katz, who told the army to expand its operations "against all targets" in Gaza, regardless of any negotiations.

Ministers have declared ambitions to seize the whole of Gaza and occupy it indefinitely, and in May approved plans for a huge new ground offensive.

The army has deployed its entire standing infantry and armoured brigades to the territory and has called up as many as 450,000 reservists for the operation.

The army currently controls around 40 percent of Gaza and wants to occupy 75 percent of the territory by the end of July.

Dozens of displacement orders issued over the past three months have left 81 percent of the territory off limits to Palestinians, according to UN estimates last month.

Gaza City, areas of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, and Al-Mawasi are now the only areas that have not been declared closed military zones or subjected to displacement orders.

Israel continues systematic destruction of Gaza

The Israeli military has destroyed hundreds of buildings in Gaza in recent days, accelerating its campaign of total destruction in the Palestinian territory.

The Gaza government media office said Sunday that more than 240 residential units had been demolished in what its director called a "scorched-earth policy aimed at emptying cities".

"This criminal behaviour shows a premeditated intent to expand genocide and enforce forced displacement of unarmed civilians," Ismail al-Thawabta told Anadolu Agency.

It is estimated that three-quarters of all structures in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged by Israeli forces since October 2023, including more than 90 percent of housing units.

Senior Israeli cabinet ministers have in recent weeks grown increasingly brazen about articulating genocidal plans in Gaza, with extremist finance minister Bezalel Smotrich declaring last month that the Israeli military is "destroying everything that's left of the Gaza Strip".

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared plans to displace Gaza's entire 2.2 million inhabitants to the south of the enclave ahead of what ministers refer to as their "voluntary" migration from their land.

Since displacing civilians from Rafah governorate earlier this year, Israeli forces have been systematically razing buildings to the ground.

Footage circulating online has shown dozens of Israeli bulldozers tearing down houses in the southern city, block by block.