It is unclear whether Hamas will agree to a US plan for a ceasefire.

US President Donald Trump is stoking hopes for an imminent ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The warring parties are very close to an agreement, Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday. There is a chance. "We'll let you know later today or maybe tomorrow," he added. While Israel has accepted a US proposal for a temporary ceasefire, according to the White House, Hamas says it is still reviewing the plan. Whether it will ultimately agree to it remains uncertain.

Hamas is disappointed by the proposal because it still leaves Israel free to resume fighting after the ceasefire, the Times of Israel reported, citing sources familiar with the negotiations. The terrorist organization also criticized the US plan for not providing clear details on the Israeli army's withdrawal, the Wall Street Journal quoted unnamed Hamas officials as saying. On the other hand, neither side wants to be held responsible for the failure of the recent peace efforts, the BBC reported.

Meanwhile, the United Nations continues to warn of famine in the Gaza Strip. "Gaza is the hungriest region in the world," said Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN Office for the Relief and Works in Geneva. It is the only clearly defined area on earth where all residents, without exception, are threatened by famine. The UN has tens of thousands of pallets of food ready at the borders of the Gaza Strip, but is not allowed to distribute it. "The occupying power is deliberately blocking aid to the Gaza Strip," he said.

Since March, the Israeli government had blocked all aid deliveries to the sealed-off coastal area. According to the government, this was intended to increase pressure on Hamas to release the last hostages kidnapped in the terrorist attack in Israel on October 7, 2023. Ten days ago, the blockade was eased, but only slightly. It was "like a drip-feeding system in a region with catastrophic hunger," Laerke said. He called it an organizational "straightjacket."

According to Israeli media reports, the plan of US special envoy Steve Witkoff calls for a 60-day ceasefire. According to several reports, ten hostages would be released in two stages within a week, and the bodies of 18 abducted people would be returned. In return, 125 Palestinians serving life sentences and 1,111 Gaza residents arrested after the terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, would be released.

According to reports, talks on ending the Gaza war will be held during the two-month ceasefire. In the event of an agreement between Israel and Hamas, the remaining hostages and the remains of the other abducted people will be handed over. Hamas had recently rejected a temporary ceasefire and demanded the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and an end to the war.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed media reports from the US and Israel speak of a planned visit by the Saudi Arabian foreign minister with his counterparts from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and Turkey to the occupied West Bank, which Israel is blocking. The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank wanted to use the visit, planned for Sunday, to advance international recognition of a yet-to-be-created Palestinian state, the Times of Israel quoted a senior Israeli official as saying.

"Such a state would certainly become a terrorist state in the heart of Israel," the Israeli news site Ynet quoted an unnamed diplomat as saying. Since Israel controls the borders of the West Bank, the delegation, led by the Saudi foreign minister, would have required the approval of the Israeli government. The "highly unusual decision" to block this visit is likely to further escalate tensions between Israel's government and its Arab neighbors, the US news site Axios concluded.

Saudi Arabia and France plan to host an international conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York in mid-June to advance a two-state solution—the establishment of an independent Palestinian state coexisting peacefully alongside Israel. French President Emmanuel Macron recently indicated in an interview that his country could recognize such a Palestinian state at the conference. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects a two-state solution, as do the radical Islamists of Hamas, who are committed to the destruction of the Jewish state.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Air Force reportedly attacked weapons depots in Syria again. According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, barracks in the Latakia region were hit. No reports of deaths or injuries were immediately available. This was Israel's first airstrike in Syria since early May.

Between December 2024, when rebels overthrew Syria's long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad, and the beginning of May, Israel carried out dozens of airstrikes. By bombing weapons depots, the army claimed to be trying to prevent the stockpiles from falling into the hands of jihadists and other anti-Israel forces.