HAMAS has accepted a new Gaza ceasefire proposal from mediators Egypt and Qatar, the Palestinian militant group said at the weekend.

But Israel, which unilaterally broke the previous ceasefire deal, has made a counterproposal in “full co-ordination” with the United States, the third mediator.

Early last week, Egypt made a proposal to secure a new ceasefire. It was not immediately clear whether Cairo’s proposal changed before Khalil al-Hayyah, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, announced that it had been accepted.

Early in the week, an Egyptian official said the proposal would lead to Hamas releasing five living hostages, including an American-Israeli, from Gaza in return for Israel allowing aid into the territory and suspending military action. 

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Egyptian official said Israel would be required to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. 

On Saturday, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave no details about Israel’s counterproposal but said it had been offered after consultations with the US on Friday.

Israel has vowed to escalate the war until Hamas returns the 59 hostages it still holds, 24 of whom are believed to be alive. 

Israel also wants Hamas to give up power, disarm and send its leaders into exile. 

The resistance movement has said it will only release the remaining captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Families of the hostages rallied again on Saturday to call for a deal that would bring everyone home.

“The price of your war is the life of the hostages,” some protesters chanted in Tel Aviv as scuffles broke out with police.

“War will not bring our hostages home, it will kill them,” Naama Weinberg, cousin of deceased hostage Itay Svirsky, told a weekly gathering in the coastal city.

Early this month, Israel again cut off all supplies to Gaza to put pressure on Hamas to accept new terms to the ceasefire that started in mid-January.

The United Nations said on Saturday that the Israeli blockade would cause Gaza’s bakeries to run out of flour within a week.

Agencies have cut food distributions to families in half. Markets are empty of most vegetables. Many aid workers are also unable to move around because of the relentless Israeli bombardment.

Israel has shut off all sources of food, fuel, medicine and other supplies for the Gaza Strip’s population of more than two million Palestinians. 

Mother-of-three Shorouq Shamlakh, from Jabaliya in northern Gaza, said: “We depend entirely on this aid box. 

“If this closes, who else will provide us with food?”