Israel keeps up strikes as Hamas studies truce proposal

Netanyahu vows to storm Rafah despite objections, saying a date has been set

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GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories Israel bombed targets in Gaza on April 9 after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted the army will destroy Hamas despite ongoing Cairo talks towards a ceasefire and hostage deal.

More than six months into the war, Hamas said it was studying a new proposal for a temporary truce, submitted during the talks with US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

Under the plan, fighting would stop for six weeks, 40 women and child hostages would be exchanged for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and up to 500 aid trucks would enter Gaza per day, a Hamas source said.

Hamas said it appreciates the mediators' latest efforts, but accused Israel of failing to respond to its longstanding demands, including a full withdrawal of forces from Gaza.

Mr Netanyahu stressed - despite growing pressure from its top ally, the US that Israel would pursue the twin goals of bringing home the hostages and destroying Hamas after its Oct 7 attack.

He said Israeli forces would storm Gaza's far-southern city of Rafah on the Egyptian border despite global concern for the fate of up to 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering there.

The Israeli Premier said: "This victory requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there.

"It will happen - there is a date," he vowed, without saying when he plans to send troops into the last city in Gaza to be spared a ground invasion so far.