Hamas has submitted a ceasefire proposal to mediators in Gaza, which includes an initial phase of freeing Israeli women, children, the elderly and the sick held hostage in exchange for the release of 700-1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
The fundamentalists also demanded the release of 100 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israeli prisons and that of female Israeli soldiers.
Hamas said it would agree on a date for a permanent ceasefire after the initial exchange of hostages and prisoners.
A day earlier, Israel called Hamas's demands for a prisoner exchange deal unrealistic
An update on this issue will be submitted tomorrow to the war cabinet and the security cabinet," Prime Minister Netanyahu's office announced.
Meanwhile, the Hamas-run Palestinian Ministry of Health says the toll from a fresh massacre of civilians waiting for humanitarian aid last night in Gaza City has risen to 21 dead and at least 150 wounded.
Local sources quoted by the Palestinian Wafa news agency report that airstrikes and artillery fire hit a crowd of citizens waiting for food and aid to arrive near the Kuwait roundabout in the main Strip city.
But the Arabic-language spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Avichay Adraee, denies reports that appeared in Arab and Palestinian media that Israeli troops opened fire yesterday evening on people waiting for aid in Gaza City. killing at least 21 people.