Hamas was studying Tuesday Israel's offer of a 40-day truce in the war in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of scores of hostages held since the Palestinian group's October 7 attacks.
Returning to Qatar after the latest talks in Cairo, the Hamas delegation said it would "discuss the ideas and the proposal... we are keen to respond as quickly as possible," a Hamas source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Egyptian sources told Al-Qahera News, a site linked to Egyptian intelligence services, that the Hamas delegation would "return with a written response".
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the truce terms as "extraordinarily generous", while the White House asked fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar to increase pressure on Hamas to accept the latest push to halt the nearly seven-month-old war.
According to Monday night call readouts, US President Joe Biden urged the Egyptian and Qatari leaders "to exert all efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas", calling this "the only obstacle" to securing relief for civilians in the besieged strip.
For months, Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to secure a new agreement between the combatants. A one-week truce in November saw 80 Israeli hostages exchanged for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Relentless Israeli bombardment has meanwhile devastated Hamas-run Gaza, flattening much of the territory and bringing its people to the brink of famine, while threatening to unfurl into a wider regional conflict.
In the far southern city of Rafah, Palestinians despaired over the war while searching for victims of the latest strike.
"Civilian individuals with no ties to Hamas or any other group were struck by a rocket, torn apart," Um Louay Masri said at a destroyed building where children were being pulled out from underneath the rubble. "Why did this occur?"
To global alarm, Israel has vowed to go after Hamas battalions in Rafah, where the majority of Gaza's 2.4 million people have sought refuge.
But Foreign Minister Israel Katz said over the weekend the government may "suspend" that operation if a truce is reached.
Two-state solution talks
Speaking in Riyadh on his seventh visit to the region since the start of the war in Gaza, top US diplomat Blinken underscored the need for Hamas to "decide quickly" on the truce.
He told a World Economic Forum special meeting that he was "hopeful that they will make the right decision".
At the WEF meeting, Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said "the proposal has taken into account the positions of both sides".
"We are hopeful," he added.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that Hamas has been offered a "sustained 40 days' ceasefire, the release of potentially thousands of Palestinian prisoners, in return for the release of these hostages".
On the sidelines of the WEF, US, European and Arab representatives met to discuss how to advance a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told the gathering that tangible and irreversible steps towards establishing a Palestinian state would be an essential component of any durable ceasefire deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a long-standing opponent of Palestinian statehood however, and Israel has previously rejected a permanent ceasefire.
A Hamas source has told AFP the group is keen for a deal that "guarantees a permanent ceasefire, the free return of displaced people, an acceptable deal for (a prisoner-hostage) exchange and an end to the siege" in Gaza.
'Bring our people home'
Netanyahu is under tremendous pressure from the families of hostages taken by Hamas in the October 7 attack to secure their release.
On Monday, the families of two Israeli captives seen alive in a video released by Hamas last weekend called for their release.
"I demand the leaders of the free world to help us bring our people home," said Aviva Siegel, who was freed in the November truce and is the wife of captive Keith Siegel.
Israel estimates 129 hostages remain in Gaza, including 34 believed to be dead.
Hamas's attack resulted in the deaths of about 1,170 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,488 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
That tally includes at least 34 deaths in a 24-hour window, the ministry said Monday, down from a peak this month of at least 153 deaths on April 9.
At Rafah's Al-Najjar hospital, a crowd of grief-stricken relatives jostled over the dead, shrouded in white.
"We demand the entire world to call for a lasting truce," Abu Taha said at the hospital.
Heatwave
After an Israeli drone strike in early April killed seven workers from a US-based charity, Biden suggested to Netanyahu, for the first time, that continued US support could be conditional on protection and aid for civilians.
On Sunday, the White House said Israel was letting more aid trucks into Gaza in line with "commitments" Biden asked it to meet.
The UN has, however, continued to cite "access constraints" that significantly hinder delivery.
The US military is building a pier to help boost humanitarian supplies -- an effort that the Pentagon on Monday said would cost Washington at least $320 million.
"I have sick children who cannot tolerate the heat," said Alaa al-Saleh, a Palestinian displaced to an encampment in Rafah. "We are cramped inside the tent, rarely going outside."

A missile attack by Yemen's Houthi militias damaged a ship in the Red Sea on Monday, authorities said, the latest assault in their campaign against shipping in the crucial maritime route.

The attack happened off the coast of Mokha, Yemen, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. The ship was damaged in the attack, the UKMTO said, though its crew was safe and heading to its next port of call. The agency urged vessels to exercise caution in the area.

There was “an explosion in close proximity to a merchant vessel,” the UKMTO said. “Vessel and crew are reported safe.”

The US military's Central Command identified the ship damaged as the Cyclades, a Malta-flagged, Greece-owned bulk carrier. The military separately shot down a drone on a flight path toward the USS Philippine Sea and USS Laboon, the military said Tuesday.

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed the attack on the Cyclades and targeting the US warships in a statement early Tuesday.

Meanwhile Monday, the Italian Defense Ministry said its frigate Virgino Fasan shot down a Houthi drone that morning near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

“A missile exploded in the water in the vicinity of the escorted vessel, causing only minor superficial damage,” the Italian Defense Ministry said, not identifying the commercial vessel being escorted. “The frigate Fasan and the protected merchant vessel are continuing their southward route as planned to exit the Red Sea.”

Saree did not acknowledge that attack, though he claimed the Houthis also targeted a ship in the Indian Ocean. There was no immediate report or evidence to support that claim.

The delegation of the European Union (EU) and the diplomatic missions of the EU Member States in Libya expressed in a joint statement on Monday their grave concern after activist Siraj Dughman was reported dead in a Benghazi prison.

"We are gravely concerned about the circumstances of his death and strongly urge a comprehensive, transparent, and independent investigation of the incident." The statement reads.

The statement noted that Dughman’s arrest, similar to those of numerous other civil society representatives and activists, citizens and foreigners, was not followed by any subsequent formal charges or court proceedings.

"The arbitrary arrests or detentions are starkly at odds with Libya’s own legal framework. We call for the immediate release of all individuals arbitrarily detained and reassert the importance of adherence to due process and the rule of law across Libya. We stand with the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) in calling for the cessation of abductions, enforced disappearances, and arbitrary arrests or detentions throughout the country."

It also indicated that the EU and its Member States remained committed to supporting Libya on its journey toward stability and national reconciliation, emphasizing the necessity of legal and procedural reforms to prevent further injustices and pave the way toward a Libya in which all people can enjoy their rights.

Political activist Dughman was arrested more than six months ago along with former member of the Transitional Council Fathi Al-Baja, and the political activist Tariq Al-Bashari, without referring them to prosecution or charging them with any crimes, before the authorities in Benghazi announced his death in his prison cell in mid-April. The Internal Security Agency in Benghazi said that Dughman had died while trying to escape from the bathroom in his prison. However, activists said the incident seemed like a killing, adding that the circumstances of his death were unnatural.

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield made remarks at the UN Security Council Stakeout on the Situation in Sudan warning of the crisis in El Fasher in North Darfur.

She highlighted reports that the RSF and its allied militias have razed multiple villages west of El Fasher, saying the RSF is planning an imminent attack on El Fasher at any moment.

"As I’ve said before, history is repeating itself in Darfur in the worst possible way," Greenfield said.

"An attack on El Fasher would be a disaster on top of a disaster. It would put five hundred thousand internally displaced persons at risk, people who traveled from across Darfur to seek refuge. And that’s on top of the two million Sudanese who call El Fasher home," she added.

The US official said a crisis of epic proportions is brewing, highlighting five urgent conditions to avoid further death, destruction, and suffering.

"First, the RSF must end its siege and build-up of military forces in El Fasher, and swear off any attack on the city. All parties to the conflict must take urgent steps to de-escalate. The UN Security Council already called for this, but that’s not enough. Every single Member State must speak out. The entire international community must speak out."

She also said armed actors in Sudan must respect international law and protect civilians, and recall the ICC’s jurisdiction to investigate war crimes.

Further, she stressed that all regional powers must stop providing weapons to both parties in accordance with the UN arms embargo.

The official affirmed that the warring parties must engage in direct negotiations in Jeddah. Because this conflict will not be solved on the battlefield, it will be solved at the negotiating table.

"Fifth and finally, all parties must enable full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access, including cross-border and cross-line access."

Right now, 5 million – 5 million people in Sudan are on the brink of famine, and tens of millions of people are in desperate need of aid. And yet, the warring parties continue to obstruct humanitarian access and aid.

The US military's cost estimate to build a pier off Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid has risen to $320 million, a US defense official and a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The figure, which has not been previously reported, illustrates the massive scale of a construction effort that the Pentagon has said involves about 1,000 US service members, mostly from the Army and Navy.

Still, the cost has roughly doubled from initial estimates earlier this year, according to a person familiar with the matter.

"The cost has not just risen. It has exploded," Senator Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Democratic-led Senate Armed Services Committee, told Reuters, when asked about the costs.

"This dangerous effort with marginal benefit will now cost the American taxpayers at least $320 million to operate the pier for only 90 days."

Democratic President Joe Biden announced the pier in March as aid officials implored Israel to ease access for relief supplies into Gaza over land routes. By opening a second route for aid, this one by sea, Biden administration officials hope to avert famine in northern Gaza.

Israel's military campaign against Hamas, in response to Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct. 7, has devastated the tiny Gaza Strip and plunged its 2.3 million people into a humanitarian catastrophe.

Still, Wicker and some other lawmakers have questioned whether the pier is a worthwhile endeavor, particularly given the risk that US military personnel could become targets of Hamas militants.

"How much will taxpayers be on the hook once – or if – the pier is finally constructed?" Wicker asked.

"For every day this mission continues, the price tag goes up and so does the level of risk for the 1,000 deployed troops within range of Hamas' rockets."

Concerns about the threat to American troops getting caught up in the Israel-Hamas war were underscored on Thursday as news emerged of a mortar attack near the area where the pier will eventually touch ground. No US forces were present, however, and they were miles off shore -- beyond mortar range.

Biden has ordered US forces to not step foot on the Gaza shore.

The pier will initially handle 90 trucks a day, but that number could go up to 150 trucks daily when it is fully operational. The United Nations said last week that the daily average number of trucks entering Gaza during April was 200 and that there had been a peak on Monday of 316.

A senior Biden administration official said last week that humanitarian aid coming off the pier will need to pass through Israeli checkpoints on land.

That is despite the aid having already been inspected by Israel in Cyprus before being shipped to Gaza. Israel wants to prevent any aid getting to Hamas fighters that boosts their war effort.

The prospect of checkpoints raises questions about possible delays even after aid reaches shore. The United Nations has long complained of obstacles to getting aid in and distributing it throughout Gaza.

The United Nations has appealed for $2.5 billion to try and meet the most urgent needs of the people living in the Gaza Strip between April and December.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged Hamas to swiftly accept an Israeli proposal for a truce in the Gaza war and the release of Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian group.

Hamas negotiators were expected to meet Qatari and Egyptian mediators in Cairo on Monday to deliver a response to the phased truce proposal which Israel presented at the weekend.

"Hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel," Blinken said at a meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

"The only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas. They have to decide and they have to decide quickly," he said. "I'm hopeful that they will make the right decision."

A source briefed on the talks said Israel's proposal entailed a deal for the release of fewer than 40 of the roughly 130 hostages believed to be still held in Gaza in exchange for freeing Palestinians jailed in Israel.

A second phase of a truce would consist of a "period of sustained calm" - Israel's compromise response to a Hamas demand for a permanent ceasefire.

A total of 253 hostages were seized in a Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which about 1,200 Israelis were also killed, according to Israeli counts.

Israel retaliated by imposing a total siege on Gaza and mounting an air and ground assault that has killed about 34,500 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

Palestinians are suffering from severe shortages of food, fuel and medicine in a humanitarian crisis brought on by the offensive that has demolished much of the territory.

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who was also in Riyadh for the WEF meeting, also described the Israeli proposal as "generous".

It included a 40-day pause in fighting and the release of potentially thousands of Palestinian prisoners as well as Israeli hostages, he told a WEF audience.

"I hope Hamas do take this deal and frankly, all the pressure in the world and all the eyes in the world should be on them today saying 'take that deal'," Cameron said.

Cameron is among several foreign ministers in Riyadh, including from the US, France, Jordan and Egypt, as part of a diplomatic push to bring an end to the Gaza war.

Blinken reiterated that the United States - Israel's main diplomatic supporter and weapons supplier - could not back an Israeli ground assault on Rafah if there was no plan to ensure that civilians would not be harmed.

More than a million displaced Gaza residents are crammed into Rafah, the enclave's southernmost city, having sought refuge there from Israeli bombardments. Israel says the last Hamas fighters are holed up there and it will open an offensive to root them out soon.

Iraq has repatriated hundreds more of its citizens linked to ISIS from a sprawling camp in northeastern Syria, Iraqi and Syrian officials said Monday.

Ali Jahangir, a spokesman for Iraq’s Ministry of Migration and Displaced, said the nearly 700 Iraqis, mostly women and children, arrived late Sunday at a camp near Iraq’s northern city of Mosul, where they will undergo a rehabilitation program with the help of international agencies in an effort to distance them from extremist ideology.

Despite an aggressive repatriation campaign by Baghdad, Iraqis remain the largest nationality among the nearly 43,000 residents of al-Hol camp which houses the wives, widows, children and other family members of IS militants. Syrians are the second-largest nationality. More than 6,000 people from 57 other countries are housed in a separate area known as the Annex.

“These are Iraqi citizens that we have to rehabilitate,” Jahangir said. “Leaving them at al-Hol camp means they are a time bomb that could threaten Iraq’s security.”

In 2014, ISIS declared a caliphate in large parts of Iraq and Syria and attracted tens of thousands of supporters from around the world. The extremists were defeated by a US-led coalition in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019. Tens of thousands of people linked to the group were taken to al-Hol camp close to the Iraqi border.

The heavily guarded camp, overseen by the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, was once home to 73,000 people.

Sheikhmous Ahmad, a Kurdish official overseeing camps for displaced in northeastern Syria, said 187 families consisting of 697 Iraqis were repatriated Sunday. He said it was the 15th group to return home.

An SDF official, Siamand Ali, said the presence of foreigners at al-Hol and the smaller Roj camp are a burden on the force that also protects the facilities and raids IS sleeper cells that carry out deadly attacks in Syria.

“Repatriating them to their countries is a positive step and reduces the pressure on us,” Ali said, according to The AP.

The office of Iraq’s national security adviser said 7,556 citizens have been repatriated from al-Hol. Jahangir said they have no exact figures of how many Iraqis remain at the camp.

Hawar News, the news agency for the semiautonomous Kurdish areas in Syria, said the latest figures from al-Hol show 42,781 people there including 19,530 Iraqis, 16,779 Syrians and 6,461 from other nationalities. The agency says 11 residents have not been identified.

Last week, Kurdish-led authorities repatriated 50 women and children from al-Hol and Roj camps to Tajikistan.

The Hamas militant group's al Qassam Brigades said on Monday they had fired a salvo of missiles from south Lebanon at an Israeli military position.

Air raid sirens went off in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

The Qassam Brigades said in a statement that the Monday morning attack on the army command in northern Israel was in retaliation for “the massacres committed by the Zionist enemy in Gaza.”

Hamas has fired rockets from Lebanon on several occasions since the Israel-Hamas war started in October.

Iran is pushing Syria to act on strategic investments from agreements between them, aiming to repay Syria’s $50 billion debt.

Tehran is speeding up the process, which Damascus had hesitated on, seeing itself as crucial for Syria’s survival amid economic collapse.

Sources in Damascus confirm Iran’s long-standing pressure to implement these agreements, especially after President Ebrahim Raisi’s visit last May and the signing of a cooperation memorandum.

The focus is on getting these agreements into action.

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Syria sees these agreements as unfair, giving Iran benefits while harming Syrian interests.

Syria feels deprived of financial support to bolster its economy because the main goal seems to be Iran reclaiming its debt.

As a result, Damascus hesitates to implement the agreements, hoping to use its economy as leverage to attract investment from Arab and Western nations.

Last August, a classified government document from the Iranian presidency was leaked to the media, revealing Iran spent $50 billion on the Syrian war over 10 years.

Iran considers this sum as "debts" it intends to reclaim through investments, including the transfer of phosphate, oil, and other resources to the Iranian government.

Iran plans to invest $947 million in eight projects to recoup about $18 billion over 50 years.

An economist in Damascus, who requested anonymity, explained that due to war damage, production in government-held areas is minimal, and Syria heavily relies on imports, especially with Russia occupied in Ukraine.

As a result, Syria is dependent on Iran, which controls the supply of oil, gas, and food, becoming Syria’s main lifeline.

As signs of progress in Damascus-Tehran agreements emerge, Syria's Minister of Communications and Technology, Iyad al-Khatib, announced that the trial call for the new cellular operator, “Wafa Telecom,” will happen in September, followed by its commercial launch.

Workers installing communication towers confirmed that many are set up to serve “Wafa Telecom,” reportedly backed by seven local Syrian companies. However, investigations found ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

“Most areas in Damascus now have these towers,” an installation worker, speaking under conditions of anonymity, told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Another source in Damascus mentioned speeding up the implementation of various agreements, including establishing a joint bank and enhancing trade deals.

To speed up these agreements, Iran appointed Hossein Akbari as its special ambassador to Damascus in April 2023. He’s been meeting with Syrian officials and engaging with state institutions and trade chambers, focusing on the economic aspects.

Local media reported that he met with three Syrian ministers separately on March 21. They discussed starting various joint industrial projects between the two countries.

Among the planned Iranian-Syrian projects is an agreement regarding a Syrian phosphate mine with a capacity of 1.05 billion tons. Iran is set to receive part of its claims from this mine over 50 years, investing $125 million within 3 years.

According to a leaked Iranian document, this contract has been active since 2018, with 2.05 million tons of phosphate extracted from the mine until February 2022.

Another contract involves the Homs “Field 21” oil field in central Syria, holding reserves of 100 million barrels. The 30-year contract execution began in 2020, with Iran investing $300 million to complete it within 5 years, aiming to settle Syria's $3.4 billion debt from this field.

There’s also a contract for “Field 12” in Deir Ezzor, eastern Syria, spanning 30 years. With a $300 million investment over 5 years, Iran expects to earn $3 billion from it.

Additionally, Iran will establish and operate a mobile phone station in Syria, investing $222 million over three years, expecting an income of $1.5 billion. They’ll also receive a portion of the income from the Latakia port, with payments spread over 20 years.

Furthermore, there are contracts for investing in 5,000 hectares of agricultural land in Syria, covering $25 million of Syria’s debt to Iran over 25 years.

Moreover, a contract will establish a factory for producing powdered infant milk near the “Zahid” cattle facility in Tartus. Through this, $7 million of Syria’s debt to Iran is expected to be repaid over 25 years.

Israeli airstrikes on three houses in the southern Gaza city of Rafah killed at least 22 Palestinians and wounded many others, medics said on Monday.

Israel has regularly carried out airstrikes on Rafah since the start of the war and has threatened to send in ground troops, saying Rafah is the last major Hamas stronghold in the coastal enclave. Over a million Palestinians have sought refuge in the city on the Egyptian border.

An assault on Rafah has been anticipated for weeks but foreign governments and the United Nations have expressed concern that such action could result in a humanitarian disaster given the number of displaced people crammed into the area.

The overnight strikes hit three family homes. The first killed 11 people, including four siblings aged 9 to 27, according to records at the Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital, where the bodies were taken. The second strike killed eight people, including a 33-year-old father and his 5-day-old boy, according to hospital records. The third strike killed three siblings, aged 23, 19 and 12.