Israel studies Hamas reply to Gaza ceasefire plan as fighting continues

Israel is reviewing a revised response from Hamas to a proposed ceasefire and hostage release deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Thursday, as Israeli air and ground strikes continued to pound the Gaza Strip.

Hamas confirmed it had handed over a new proposal, but did not disclose its contents. A previous version, submitted late on Tuesday, was rejected by mediators as insufficient and was not even passed to Israel, sources familiar with the situation said.

Both sides are facing huge pressure at home and abroad to reach a deal, with the humanitarian conditions inside Gaza deteriorating sharply amidst widespread, acute hunger in the Palestinian enclave that has shocked the world.

A senior Israeli official was quoted by local media as saying the new text was something Israel could work with. However, Israel's Channel 12 said a rapid deal was not within reach, with gaps remaining between the two sides, including over where the Israeli military should withdraw to during any truce.

A Palestinian official close to the talks told Reuters the latest Hamas position was "flexible, positive and took into consideration the growing suffering in Gaza and the need to stop the starvation".

Dozens of people have starved to death in Gaza the last few weeks as a wave of hunger crashes on the Palestinian enclave. The World Health Organization said on Wednesday 21 children under the age of five were among those who died of malnutrition so far this year.

Israel, which cut off all supplies to Gaza from the start of March and reopened it with new restrictions in May, says it is committed to allowing in aid but must control it to prevent it from being diverted by militants.

It says it has let in enough food for Gaza's 2.2 million people over the course of the war, and blames the United Nations for being slow to deliver it; the U.N. says it is operating as effectively as possible under conditions imposed by Israel.

The war between Israel and Hamas has been raging for nearly two years since Hamas killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages from southern Israel in the deadliest single attack in Israel's history.

Israel has since killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians in Gaza, decimated Hamas as a military force, reduced most of the territory to ruins and forced nearly the entire population to flee their homes multiple times.