Negotiating under fire: Israel’s latest carrot and sticks approach for Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel's intensified military pressure on Hamas in Gaza has been effective, stressing the Palestinian group must lay down its arms.

"We are negotiating under fire... We can see cracks beginning to appear" in what the group demanded in its negotiations, Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting.

Netanyahu's remarks came as mediators -- Egypt, Qatar, and the United States -- continued efforts to broker a ceasefire and secure the release of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.

A senior Hamas official stated on Saturday that the group had approved a new ceasefire proposal put forward by mediators and urged Israel to support it.

Netanyahu's office confirmed receipt of the proposal and said Israel had submitted a counterproposal.

However, the details of the latest mediation efforts remain undisclosed.

On Sunday, Netanyahu rejected claims Israel was not interested in discussing a deal that would secure the release of hostages still held in Gaza, but insisted Hamas must surrender its weapons.

"We are willing. Hamas must lay down its arms... Its leaders will be allowed to leave" from Gaza, he said.

He said that Israel would ensure overall security in Gaza and "enable the implementation of the Trump plan -- the voluntary migration plan".

Days after taking office, US President Donald Trump had announced a plan that would relocate Gaza's more than two million inhabitants to neighbouring Egypt and Jordan.

His announcement was slammed by much of the international community.

A fragile truce that had provided weeks of relative calm in the Gaza Strip collapsed on March 18 when Israel resumed its aerial bombardment and ground offensive in the Palestinian territory.

On Sunday, an Israeli air strike killed at least eight people in Gaza's Khan Yunis area, including five children, the territory's civil defence agency reported.

(AFP)