The Israeli government was still awaiting a response from Hamas regarding the latest truce proposal.

The plan, which was mediated by various parties, included a 40-day ceasefire and the exchange of Israeli hostages for potentially thousands of Palestinian prisoners.

This would be the first such deal since a one-week truce in November 2020, during which 80 Israeli hostages were exchanged for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

The conflict began with Hamas's attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2020, resulting in the deaths of over 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli official figures.

Israel estimates that 129 captives are still being held by militants in Gaza, but the military believes that 34 of them have already been killed.

Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of at least 34,596 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

The territory has been largely reduced to rubble, with unexploded ordnance leading to weekly explosions causing additional deaths and injuries.

Humanitarian aid efforts are being hampered, and hundreds of thousands of people have fled to Rafah.

Hamas officials have expressed a negative stance towards a truce proposal, with their goal being an end to the war, which contradicts Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's stated position.

Netanyahu has vowed to send Israeli troops into Rafah against Hamas fighters despite US opposition due to civilian protection concerns.

A truce plan has been proposed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who urged Hamas to accept it.

Previous optimism over a truce deal in early April was dashed when Israel and Hamas accused each other of sabotaging negotiations.

Israel's opposition leader Yair Lapid pressured Netanyahu to make a deal for the release of hostages, and Netanyahu faces regular protests in Israel over the issue.

Protesters in Israel set up large photos of women hostages outside Prime Minister Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem and blocked a highway in Tel Aviv.

The demonstrators accuse Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, of prolonging the war in Gaza.

The conflict's fallout has spread to the Middle East and the Red Sea region, disrupting commercial shipping.

US and allied warships have shot down drones and missiles fired by Iran-backed Yemeni rebels in solidarity with Palestinians.

Criticism of the war has intensified in the US, leading to protests at over 30 universities.

Talks on a potential deal to pause the Gaza war have been held in Cairo with US, Egyptian, and Qatari mediators.

Hamas is expected to respond in a few days to Israel's proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, according to Qatari mediators.

The deal includes a period of "sustainable calm" and a hostage-prisoner exchange, but Israel's withdrawal from Gaza remains a point of contention.

Egypt is involved in mediating the negotiations and has reported positive progress.

The UN aid chief, Martin Griffiths, has warned against using improvements in aid delivery as justification for military action on Rafah.

Mairav Zonszein, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, is pessimistic about Hamas agreeing to a deal without a permanent ceasefire.

The US military is constructing a temporary pier in Gaza to aid relief efforts.

The pier is currently over halfway completed.

In Khan Yunis city, foreign aid and borrowed equipment have nearly restored the emergency department at Nasser Medical Complex, which was heavily damaged during intense fighting in mid-February.

Israeli forces have continued to strike military targets in central Gaza, and witnesses reported air strikes and artillery bombardment in the Rafah area.

Militants and Israeli troops are also engaged in battles in Gaza City.

At Kamal Adwan hospital in north Gaza, workers are unloading aid while a boy lies motionless in the intensive care unit with severe head injuries.

Nadi, with a wounded arm, was concerned the hospital's power might go out, potentially ending her son's oxygen supply and causing his death.

She pleaded for the world to arrange medical treatment for him abroad due to his critical condition, resulting in her tears.