Israel is set to deliver its response to international mediators on Friday about a new Gaza ceasefire plan accepted by Hamas.
This comes as there is mounting pressure for a truce in the war following the death of more than 62,000 Palestinians and mass protests.
In the new plan, it appeared Hamas has reduced demands for a prisoner-for-hostages exchange as well as over the scope of an Israeli-demanded “security buffer zone”.
Mediator Qatar expressed cautious optimism about the new proposal and said it was “almost identical” to an earlier plan that Israel agreed to.
"We cannot make any claims that a breakthrough has been made. But we do believe it is a positive point," Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed al-Ansari, said.
While Israel is reviewing the conditions of the ceasefire, multiple Israeli officials said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not agree to any conditions unless all hostages in Gaza were released.
After Hamas’s agreement, there is mounting international pressure on Israel to accept a ceasefire amid the revelation of widespread starvation spread over the Palestinian territory after Israel imposed a complete blockade on aid entering Gaza earlier this year.
While over the past weeks Israel has begun letting some supplies into the Gaza Strip, the UN human rights office said it's not enough to avert widespread starvation.
“In the past few weeks, Israeli authorities have only allowed aid to enter in quantities that remain far below what would be required to avert widespread starvation,” UN human rights office spokesperson Thameen al-Kheetan said.
