US continues pushing for Gaza peace deal

By Nathan Morley

Negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal are continuing, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken currently in the region pushing for an accord.

After a meeting in Tel Aviv, Blinken said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to a US ‘bridging proposal’ for a deal.

Hamas has never been satisfied with the bridging proposal, claiming it was too aligned with Israel's demands, especially concerning Israel's insistence on maintaining military forces in the Palestinian enclave.

Mr. Blinken is now in Egypt where he is expected to continue his push for peace.

Earlier on Tuesday, the bodies of six Israeli hostages were retrieved from the Khan Younis area.

The recovery operation was carried out by the Israeli military and intelligence services.

Elsewhere, Palestinian security and medical sources say that at least nine Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City.

According to the claim, the Israeli army attacked the Mustafa Hafez school which is sheltering displaced families.