By Ibrahim Dahman, Eugenia Yosef, Tim Lister, Tala Alrajjal and Vasco Cotovio, CNN
(CNN) — Hamas says it is considering the latest US ceasefire plan for Gaza and remains “fully engaged” in the mediation process as Israel vowed to escalate its renewed campaign in Gaza to pressure the militants into releasing hostages.
The shaky truce collapsed on Tuesday when Israel bombarded Gaza, shattering two months of calm that also saw dozens of hostages exchanged for Palestinian prisoners.
In a statement Friday, Hamas said it was continuing to deliberate on a proposal from US envoy Steve Witkoff, who has suggested extending the first phase of the ceasefire-hostage deal through early April.
Hamas has insisted on sticking to a timeline previously agreed with Israel and the US that would move the warring parties into a second phase of the truce, in which Israel would commit to ending the war. But Israel has refused, saying it wants to extend the first phase instead.
Khaled Meshaal, a senior Hamas official, on Thursday accused Israel of using the Witkoff plan “to blackmail Hamas by retrieving the (hostages) from the first phase of the agreement without committing to the obligations of the second phase, which include a lasting calm and full withdrawal of the occupation from the Gaza Strip.”
The ceasefire ended earlier this week as Israel resumed its air and ground campaign in Gaza, citing Hamas’ refusal to agree to the new terms. It has warned that it plans to significantly intensify military operations as well as pressure on civilians.
Israeli fire has killed nearly 600 people and injured more than a thousand in Gaza since the fighting resumed, according to the Hamas-run Government Media Office. Hamas fired rockets into Israel Thursday for the first time since the truce collapsed, but no casualties were reported.
The United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, said the reported number of children killed on Wednesday marked “one of the largest single-day child death toll in the last year.”
The Israeli military said Thursday that it began a ground operation in southern Gaza’s Rafah city. The city’s municipality reported Friday that more than 100 civilians had been killed under bombardment – most of them children and women. It said residents were being forcibly driven into the open, with no shelter or food.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Friday instructed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to seize more Gaza territory and evacuate its residents until Hamas releases all hostages, warning that the seizures would be “permanent.”
The move, he explained, would “expand the security zones around Gaza for the protection of Israeli communities and IDF soldiers through permanent maintenance of the territory by Israel.”
“The more Hamas continues its refusal, the more territory it will lose to Israel,” Katz added.
‘Civilian means of pressure’
He also warned that “civilian means of pressure” will be adopted along with military pressure, “including evacuating the Gaza population to the south and implementing US President Trump’s voluntary transfer plan for Gaza residents.”
In its statement on Friday, Hamas reiterated its demand for a permanent end to the war, saying it was exploring “various ideas on the table in a manner that aims to achieve a prisoner exchange deal that ensures the release of detainees, ends the war, and secures a withdrawal.”
The proposal from Witkoff last week would secure the release of a handful of living hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a month-long extension of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, CNN has reported.
‘An isolationist policy’
Under the proposal, Israel would also lift its blockade of humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been ongoing for nearly three weeks.
The ceasefire extension would run until the end of Passover, extending the pause in fighting and renewing the entry of humanitarian aid through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday.
Katz said Israel accepted Witkoff’s formula for the release of all the hostages, “both living and dead, in advance and in two stages with a ceasefire in between – without endangering Israeli security interests.”
Of the 59 hostages still being held in Gaza, fewer than half are still believed to be alive.
Asked by CNN whether Israel appears to be willing to return to the negotiating table, Egyptian foreign ministry spokesperson Tamim Khallaf said: “It doesn’t, and I think it’s an isolationist policy and runs diametrically opposed to what the global community would like to see… an end to this war.”
Egypt had no indication that Israel was going to breach the Gaza ceasefire when Israeli negotiators were in Cairo on Sunday, just two days before Israel renewed attacks, Khallaf told CNN’s Becky Anderson in an interview on Thursday.
“We have not been receiving these indications. We were engaged in ceasefire talks in order to move forward with phase two and phase three,” he said, calling Israel’s return to war a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire agreement “that will trigger ripple effects.”
Egypt continues to engage with the Trump administration on its efforts to resuscitate the ceasefire, he added.
After the Trump administration initially cast doubt on the Egyptian-led plan, Khallaf said conversations with Witkoff have been constructive.
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