Image source, Getty Images

At a news conference in Washington DC on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked whether she could confirm a report by Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV that Israel and Hamas had agreed a new ceasefire deal.

"I can confirm that Special Envoy Witkoff and the president submitted a ceasefire proposal to Hamas that Israel backed and supported. Israel signed off on this proposal before it was sent to Hamas," she said.

Israel's Channel 12 TV also reported that Netanyahu told hostages' families at a meeting: "We agree to accept the latest Witkoff plan that was conveyed to us tonight. Hamas has not yet responded. We do not believe Hamas will release the last hostage, and we will not leave the Strip until all the hostages are in our hands."

His office later issued a statement accusing one of the channel's reporters of trying to "smuggle" a recording device into the room where the meeting took place. But it did not deny that he had agreed to the US proposal.

Earlier, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza released its daily report on the number of people killed and injured in the war.

Sixty people have died and a further 284 have been injured in the past 24-hours, the Hamas-run ministry says.

That does not include numbers from hospitals located in the North Gaza Strip Governorate because of the difficulty of accessing the area, it adds.

That brings the death toll to 54,381 since the beginning of the war on 7 October 2023. A further 124,054 have been injured.

Israel began its military offensive in Gaza in response to Hamas's attack on 7 October, which killed about 1,200 people.

Image source, Reuters

We're yet to hear from Israel on Hamas's response to the proposed ceasefire deal.

The United States, who's taken on a leading role in the negotiations, also hasn't reacted yet.

Stick with us and we'll bring you the latest reaction once we have it.

Hamas, a proscribed terror group in the UK, US and EU, has responded to the US-backed ceasefire proposal in Gaza, after initially rejecting its terms.

Here's a look at what the group says about the proposal:

• The response aims for a "permanent ceasefire" and "complete withdrawal" of Israeli forces from Gaza
• Hamas is seeking guarantees that aid will continue to arrive to Palestinians in Gaza
• Hamas says it will release 10 living hostages and 18 bodies in exchange for "an agreed upon number" of Palestinian prisoners in Israel

The full details of the US-proposed ceasefire plan haven't been made public and are unconfirmed, but the news agency Reuters reports these key points are included:

• A 60-day pause in fighting
• The release of 28 Israeli hostages - alive and dead - in the first week, and the release of 30 more once a permanent ceasefire is in place
• The release of 1,236 Palestinian prisoners and the remains of 180 dead Palestinians
• The sending of humanitarian aid to Gaza via the United Nations and other agencies

Barbara Plett Usher
Reporting from Jerusalem

Hamas says it has submitted its response to a US ceasefire proposal presented earlier this week.

The group said in a statement that it was prepared to release ten living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 18 dead hostages, which is the number specified in the proposed deal, in exchange for an agreed-upon release of Palestinian prisoners.

However, it also outlined its reservations about the draft – proposed by the US Envoy Steve Witkoff after getting approval from the Israelis, the White House said.

In a detailed response Hamas repeated the movement’s well-known conditions: a permanent ceasefire, a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and guarantees for the continuous flow of humanitarian aid.

None of these are in the offer currently on the table, and Hamas’s response constituted neither an explicit rejection nor a clear acceptance of the proposal.