Turkish FM, US secretary discuss latest Gaza ceasefire proposal

Indirect talks between Israel and Palestine, mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt, have so far failed to secure an agreement on a permanent ceasefire in Israel's relentless war against Palestine's Gaza.

In a phone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed the latest proposal raised in negotiations between Palestinian group Hamas and Israel, according to diplomatic sources.

US President Joe Biden earlier said that Israel has presented Hamas with a three-phase deal that would end all hostilities in besieged Gaza and release hostages that continue to be held in the coastal enclave.

"It's time to begin this new stage, the hostages to come home, for Israel to be secure, for the suffering to stop. It's time for this war to end, for the day after to begin," the president said in remarks delivered from the White House.

Tel Aviv has been continuing its offensive despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate truce.

Eight months into the Israeli war

Israel has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians in Gaza since a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023 which claimed 1,200 lives and saw around 250 people taken as hostages.

As many as 105 captives were released as part of a brief truce in November in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Around 125 people remain held captive, with many of them believed to be dead due to Israeli airstrikes.

Nearly eight months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of “genocide” at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where more than a million displaced Palestinians had sought refuge.