Israel Didn't Answer Un's 5-Hour Ceasefire Bid: Hamas

A senior Hamas leader said that the United Nations has called for a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not respond to the proposal.



"The United Nations called for a humanitarian ceasefire from 10am to 3pm [7am to 12pm GMT), and Israel has not responded yet," Moussa Abu Marzouq tweeted. "Did not Netanyahu say that he would accept all requests for calm?"



Neither the United Nations nor Israel confirmed the reported ceasefire proposal.



The Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza and Israel had two previous humanitarian ceasefires over the past week to provide assistance for the affected residents in the embattled enclave.



Since July 7, Israel has pounded the embattled coastal enclave with fierce air and naval bombardments with the stated aim of halting Palestinian rocket fire.



On Thursday night, Israel stepped up its offensive to include ground operations, sending thousands of troops into the embattled Palestinian territory.



At least 577 Palestinians have been killed – mostly civilians – and more than 3550 injured in the unrelenting Israeli attacks on the besieged coastal enclave.



By Abdel-Raouf Arnaout



englishnews@aa.com.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Gazze