The President of Egypt says that it has been proposed to end the two days in Gaza

RAMAT HASHARON, Israel – The President of Egypt announced on Sunday that his country has proposed an end to the two-day standoff between Israel and Hamas in which four hostages held in Gaza will be released.

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, speaking in Cairo, said the proposal included the release of some Palestinian prisoners and the delivery of humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip.

Egypt has been an important mediator along with Qatar and the United States. This is the first time that the president of Egypt has publicly proposed this plan. There was no immediate response from Israel or Hamas.

El-Sissi said the proposal aims to “move the situation forward,” adding that once the two-day ceasefire comes into effect, talks will continue to make it permanent.

There has been no ceasefire in 11 months, since a week-long ceasefire in November in which 105 hostages were released in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Meanwhile, Israel's Mossad chief traveled to Doha on Sunday to hold talks with Qatar's prime minister and a CIA official.

On Sunday, the government commemorates the Hebrew day of the Oct. 7, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that “not every goal can be achieved through a military campaign.” He added that “painful compromises will be required” to return the hostages.

The Egyptian proposal came a day after Israel attacked Iran over Iran's ballistic missile attack earlier this month. Iran's supreme leader said the attack “should not be exaggerated or downplayed,” while refraining from seeking revenge. It was Israel's first open attack on its archenemy.

The exchange of fire has raised fears of a regional war between Israel and the United States and Iran and the opposition, which includes Hamas and the Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon, where Israel launched a ground offensive earlier this month after the attack. a year of low-level conflict created by the war in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israeli strikes in northern Gaza have killed at least 33 people, most of them women and children, Palestinian officials said on Sunday, as Israel's assault on the hard-hit and isolated enclave entered its third week and the UN secretary-general called for the plight of the Palestinian people there. “unbearable.” Israel said it was targeting terrorists.

Two Israeli strikes killed eight people in the city of Sidon in southern Lebanon, and injured 25, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Another strike hit a residential building, according to pictures taken by an Associated Press reporter.

The Israeli military said four soldiers, including a military rabbi, were killed in the fighting in southern Lebanon, without providing details. It said five other workers were seriously injured. A bomb and an explosive device detonated in Lebanon injured five people in Israel, authorities said.

Netanyahu says the attack on Iran served Israel's goals

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his first public comments about the strikes said “we have severely damaged Iran's defense capabilities and its ability to produce missiles aimed at us.”

Satellite images showed damage to two secret Iranian military bases, one linked to nuclear weapons operations that Western intelligence agencies and nuclear inspectors say was dismantled in 2003, and the other linked to Iran's missile program. Iran on Sunday said a civilian had been killed, without giving details. Earlier it said that four people with the security forces were killed.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's 85-year-old supreme leader, said “it is up to the authorities how to determine the power and will of the Iranian people in the Israeli state.” Khamenei will make any final decision on how Iran responds.

Later on Sunday, protesters disrupted Netanyahu's speech at a nationally broadcast ceremony for the victims of the Hamas attack in southern Israel last year that sparked the war in Gaza. People shouted “Shame on you” and forced Netanyahu to stop his speech. Many Israelis blame Netanyahu for the failure that led to the attack and blame him for not returning the remaining hostages.

Truck attacks in Israel cause dozens of casualties

In another incident, a truck rammed into a bus stop near Tel Aviv, killing one person and injuring more than 30. Israeli police said the attacker was an Arab citizen of Israel. The incident took place outside a military base near the headquarters of Israel's spy agency Mossad.

A truck hit a bus in Ramat Hasharon when Israelis were returning to work after a holiday, leaving some people trapped under the vehicles.

Israeli spokesman Magen David Adom said the six injured were in critical condition. Ichilov Medical Center reported one death.

Asi Aharoni, a police spokesman, told reporters that the attacker was “neutral,” without saying that the attacker had died.

Hamas and the Islamic Jihad terrorist group praised the attack but did not say so.

Palestinians have carried out a number of stabbings, shootings and car attacks over the years. Tensions have been high since the start of the war in Gaza. Israel has been constantly attacking the West Bank, leaving many people dead. Most appear to have been soldiers killed in a shootout with Israeli forces, but Palestinians who took part in the violent protests and bystanders were also killed.

'Terrible conditions' in northern Gaza

Gaza Health Ministry emergency officials said 11 women and two children were among the 22 killed in Saturday's strikes on homes and other areas north of Gaza City, Beit Lahiya. It said 15 others were injured. The Israeli army said it had carried out a strike on soldiers.

The head of the Ministry of Health, Hussein Mohesin, said that 11 people died in the Israeli strike on the school that became a shelter in the Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza. The Israeli army had no immediate comment. Israel has attacked dozens of these shelters, often killing women and children, saying it is targeting terrorists hiding among civilians.

Israel has carried out heavy air and ground attacks in northern Gaza since early October, saying Hamas militants have regrouped there. Hundreds of people have been killed and tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled Gaza City in the latest displacement.

Aid groups have warned of a dire situation in northern Gaza, which has been hit hard by the war. Israel has sharply reduced the flow of basic aid in recent weeks, and the three remaining hospitals in the north – one of which was attacked over the weekend – say they have been overwhelmed by waves of wounded.

The UN secretary-general in a statement from his spokesman noted the “shocking levels of death.” The International Committee of the Red Cross on Saturday described the civilians in “horrible conditions.”

The war began when Hamas-led militants punched holes in Israel's border wall and stormed southern Israel in a surprise attack on Oct. 7, 2023. They killed about 1,200 people, most of whom were civilians, and captured about 250. Another 100 hostages are still inside. Gaza, about a third of them are believed to be dead.

Israeli retaliation has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says that more than half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 soldiers, without providing evidence.

The offensive has devastated much of Gaza and displaced nearly 90 percent of its 2.3 million people, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands of people are huddled in filthy tents, and aid agencies say starvation is rife.

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