Israel makes new concessions in Gaza ceasefire talks

Under a US-proposed ceasefire, Israel would allow 150,000 Palestinians to return to northern Gaza without undergoing security checks, two Israeli officials familiar with the talks said.

In return, Hamas was forced to hand over to Israel a list of sick, elderly and female hostages still being held by the group and still alive. According to the two officials, Israel assessed that Hamas did not want to reach a ceasefire agreement.

A day earlier, Hamas said the latest proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza brokered by Egypt and Qatar did not meet the demands of Palestinian factions, as well as the Palestinian people.

However, the force stressed that it would respond to the mediators with its views on the ceasefire proposal, after further studying and evaluating the content of the proposal.

This week, Israel withdrew most of its ground forces from southern Gaza after months of fighting there, but it still insisted on its plans to attack Rafah, a southern Gaza city bordering Egypt.

Rafah is home to some 1.4 million displaced Palestinians and is also a point of entry for aid to Gaza. The fate of Rafah's residents is of particular concern to humanitarian organizations and Israel's allies, who have warned that an Israeli offensive into the densely populated area would be catastrophic.

According to Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israel will evacuate people in Rafah before attacking this location, targeting the last positions of Hamas forces.

On the same day, the Israeli Ministry of Transport said it had conducted an exercise simulating a prolonged power outage to improve readiness for a new front in the context of the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

Accordingly, the exercise was held on the evening of April 9 with the participation of agencies and units of the above ministry and many companies, along with senior officials of the Prime Minister's Office, the National Emergency Management Agency, and the Home Front Command of the Israeli army.

The purpose of the exercise is to improve the transport sector's readiness to deal with a high-intensity war, especially in the event of a widespread power outage, the ministry said in a statement.

Israeli Transport Minister Miri Regev noted that the agency is considering a multi-year strategic plan to boost emergency preparedness in the coming years.