Hamas still considering Trump’s peace proposal

Hamas was still considering its response to President Donald Trump’s proposal for ending the nearly two-year war on Thursday.

The Hamas-led terrorist attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that triggered the war killed about 1,200 people, and 251 others were abducted. Most of the hostages have been freed under previous ceasefire deals.

The plan requires Hamas to return all 48 hostages — about 20 of them thought by Israel to be alive — give up power and disarm in return for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and an end to fighting. The proposal has been accepted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed more than 66,200 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and terrorists in its toll.

The Trump plan would guarantee the flow of humanitarian aid and promises reconstruction in Gaza, placing its more than 2 million Palestinians under international governance.

A Hamas official told The Associated Press that some elements of the plan were unacceptable. Qatar and Egypt, two key mediators, said the plan requires more negotiations on certain elements.

Israel has intercepted most of the more than 40 vessels in a widely watched flotilla carrying a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on social media that activists on board — including Greta Thunberg and several European lawmakers — were safe and were being taken to Israel to begin “procedures” for their deportation.

In the West Bank, a Palestinian terrorist was killed and another arrested Thursday after they carried out a car-ramming and shooting attack on an Israeli army checkpoint, the military said, adding that no soldiers were wounded.