Hamas to decide on proposal that includes hostage release

A Palestinian girl plays with a cat at a makeshift camp set up on the beach in Rafah

A senior Hamas official said Friday the group will respond "very soon" to a proposal that includes extended pauses in Gaza fighting and phased exchanges of Hamas-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

Hamas and other militants in Gaza are holding dozens of hostages, after having abducted about 250 during their deadly October 7 attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and sparked Israel's blistering offensive on the enclave. More than 100 hostages were released during a one-week truce in November, in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli troops during an operation in the Gaza Strip. Pics/AP

Over 27,000 people have been killed and 66,000 wounded by Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza, the territory's Health Ministry said Thursday. The Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths, but says most of those killed were women and children. At least three people were killed in airstrikes in southern Gaza on Friday. Israel's war in Gaza threatens to spill over into neighboring countries, despite persistent efforts by top officials around the globe to tamp down regional tensions.

Turkey detains 7 for selling Mossad info

Turkish police arrested seven people on Friday on suspicion of selling information to the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, the state-run Anadolu news agency said. The suspects allegedly passed details to Mossad via private detectives. Officers carried out raids in Istanbul and the west coast city of Izmir, which resulted in the arrests. Two other suspects in the investigation had been detained earlier.

27K
No of Palestinians killed since October 7

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