The latest Gaza ceasefire talks ended without progress in Doha, but a new date has been set for next week for further talks to end the 10-month war.
A White House statement signed by co-brokers Qatar and Egypt outlined the new proposals, which build on “areas already agreed upon” and close remaining gaps to allow “rapid implementation of the agreement.”
In a separate statement later on Friday, Joe Biden said the “bridge proposal” provides the basis for a final agreement on a ceasefire and hostage release agreement, adding that “with a comprehensive ceasefire and hostage release agreement in sight, no one in the region should take any action to undermine this process.”
While the two statements struck an optimistic tone, dozens of rounds of indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel since a short-lived ceasefire collapsed in December have failed to reach an agreement.
The hopeful words may also be aimed at further delaying Iranian retaliation against Israel following the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month.
There are growing concerns that an Iranian attack on Israel could spark a violent regional conflict.
US President Joe Biden said they were “not there yet” but added that a Gaza ceasefire agreement was “closer than it was three days ago”. But a Hamas spokesman accused Washington of trying to create a “false atmosphere” without any serious intention of ending the war.
The new push for an end to the conflict comes as the Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip tops 40,000, according to local health officials.
Diplomatic pressure is growing for Israel to make concessions when talks resume in Cairo next week.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said after meeting his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz in Tel Aviv on Friday that he conveyed to him that Israeli officials hoped they were close to reaching a deal.
“The time has come to reach an agreement to return the hostages, deliver needed aid to the Gaza Strip and stop the fighting,” Lamy said.
Speaking alongside him, French Foreign Minister Stephane Séjournet said it was a critical moment “that could lead to peace or war.”
Katz said in a statement that Israel expects its allies not only to defend it against an Iranian attack, but also to join it in any subsequent attack on Iran.
Haniyeh’s death came hours after an Israeli attack killed Fouad Shukr, a top military commander in Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group, with which he engages in near-daily cross-border firefights.
Hezbollah has vowed to exact revenge for Shukr’s killing and, in a clear message to Israel, on Friday released a video with Hebrew and English subtitles that appeared to show an underground tunnel in which trucks were transporting long-range missiles.
Israel’s military offensive against the Gaza Strip continued on Friday, with the Israeli army ordering the evacuation of people living in areas in the south and central Gaza that were previously designated “humanitarian safe zones”, after it said Hamas had used the areas to fire mortars and rockets at Israel.
Israel said it had sent warning leaflets and text messages to the eastern Deliver area and another area in the northern city of Khan Yunis, where tens of thousands of people have fled to escape fighting in other parts of Gaza.
“The advance warning to civilians is being issued to mitigate harm to them and allow them to evacuate the fighting area,” the military said in a statement.
Ayya, 28, said she “felt scared, shocked and confused” after learning of the evacuation order but decided to flee the delivery vehicle after hearing sounds of bombing nearby.
“The situation quickly deteriorated after rumours started spreading that tanks were approaching. People started screaming in panic and we were forced to flee with our children, leaving our tent and most of our belongings behind,” she said.
If attacks on Deir ez-Zor Barah continue, tens of thousands of people could be forced to flee again to other parts of the devastated region.
Commenting on the new evacuation orders, UNRWA, the main UN agency in the Gaza Strip, said people “remain trapped in an endless nightmare of death and destruction on a staggering scale.”
Hopes were low for the latest ceasefire talks, which began on Thursday. Hamas, which did not take part directly in the talks, has accused Israel of adding new demands to an earlier proposal to which the Islamist group had agreed in principle with U.S. and international backing.
Both sides agree in principle to the plan President Biden announced on May 31, but Hamas has proposed amendments, Israel has sought clarifications and each side has accused the other of trying to undermine the possibility of a deal.
Hamas rejects many of Israel’s demands, including a permanent military presence along the border with Egypt and a line dividing the Gaza Strip in two so that Israeli forces can search for Palestinians who return to their homes to flush out militants, but it has said it will take part in the talks.
There is also disagreement over the order of the ceasefire, whether it would mean a complete end to hostilities and how many Palestinian prisoners would be released from Israeli prisons in exchange for about 110 hostages taken by Hamas in a shock raid on Israel last October. Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in that raid, most of them civilians.
Additional reporting by Malak A. Tantesh in Gaza
