A key mediator on Tuesday stressed the urgency of brokering a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip after Hamas showed a “positive response” to a proposal from Arab countries, but Israel has yet to weigh in as its military prepares an offensive in some of the territory's most populated areas.

Hamas informed the Egyptian and Qatari mediators that it had agreed to the latest Gaza hostage-ceasefire proposal on Monday. The latest Gaza ceasefire proposal agreed by Hamas is "almost identical" to an earlier plan put forward by US special envoy Steve Witkoff,

Qatar confirms that Hamas has responded positively to a Gaza ceasefire proposal, including a 60-day truce. Israel has not responded yet. At least eight people were killed in Israeli attacks on tents housing displaced people in Khan Younis, and four more in an attack on a tent in Deir el-Balah.