The Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza on Wednesday ordered the leader of a well-armed Bedouin clan defying the group's control of the Palestinian enclave to surrender and face trial, accusing him of treason.

A ministry statement said the decision was taken by what it called a "Revolutionary Court". Yasser Abu Shabab, who does not recognise the authority of Hamas and accuses the militants of hurting the interests of Gaza, had 10 days to surrender, it said.

The court urged Palestinians to inform Hamas security officials about the whereabouts of Abu Shabab, who has so far remained beyond their reach in the Rafah area of southern Gaza held by Israeli troops.

The Abu Shabab group described the Hamas court's order as a "sitcom that doesn't frighten us, nor does it frighten any free man who loves his homeland and its dignity", in a post on the Facebook page that usually carried the group's announcements.

Hamas, which accuses Abu Shabab of looting U.N. aid trucks and alleges that he is backed by Israel, has sent some of its top fighters to kill him, two Hamas sources and two other sources familiar with the situation told Reuters last month.

Abu Shabab's group told Reuters at the time that it was a popular force protecting humanitarian aid from looting by escorting aid trucks and denied getting support from Israel or contacts with the Israeli army. It accused Hamas of violence and muzzling dissent.

Israel has said it has backed some of Gaza's clans against Hamas, but has not said which.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hamas is open to a ceasefire agreement. But Netanyahu says there's no room for group in postwar Gaza

Hamas and Israel staked out their positions Wednesday ahead of expected talks on a Washington-backed ceasefire proposal, with the militant group suggesting it was open to an agreement while the Israeli prime minister vowed “there will be no Hamas” in postwar Gaza.

Both stopped short of accepting the proposal announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday. Hamas insisted on its longstanding position that any deal bring an end to the war in Gaza.

Trump said Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen. The U.S. leader has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to broker a ceasefire, and hostage agreement and bring about an end to the war.

Trump said the 60-day period would be used to work toward ending the war — something Israel says it won't accept until Hamas is defeated. He said that a deal might come together as soon as next week.

But Hamas' response, which emphasized its demand that the war end, raised questions about whether the latest offer could materialize into an actual pause in fighting.

Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said that the militant group was “ready and serious regarding reaching an agreement.” He said Hamas was “ready to accept any initiative that clearly leads to the complete end to the war.”

A Hamas delegation is expected to meet with Egyptian and Qatari mediators in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the proposal, according to an Egyptian official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, because he wasn't authorized to discuss the talks with the media.

Disagreement on how the war should end

Throughout the nearly 21-month-long war, ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas have repeatedly faltered over whether the war should end as part of any deal.

Hamas said in a brief statement Wednesday that it had received a proposal from the mediators and is holding talks with them to “bridge gaps” to return to the negotiating table to try to reach a ceasefire agreement.

Hamas has said that it's willing to free the remaining 50 hostages, less than half of whom are said to be alive, in exchange for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war.

Israel says it will only agree to end the war if Hamas surrenders, disarms and exiles itself, something the group refuses to do.

“I am announcing to you — there will be no Hamas,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a speech Wednesday.

An Israeli official said that the latest proposal calls for a 60-day deal that would include a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a surge in humanitarian aid to the territory. The mediators and the U.S. would provide assurances about talks to end the war, but Israel isn't committing to that as part of the latest proposal, the official said.

The official wasn't authorized to discuss the details of the proposed deal with the media and spoke on condition of anonymity.

It wasn't clear how many hostages would be freed as part of the agreement, but previous proposals have called for the release of about 10.

On Monday, Trump is set to host Netanyahu at the White House, days after Ron Dermer, a senior Netanyahu adviser, held discussions with top U.S. officials about Gaza, Iran and other matters.

Trump issues another warning

On Tuesday, Trump wrote on social media that Israel had "agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War.”

“I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,” he said.

Trump’s warning may find a skeptical audience with Hamas. Even before the expiration of the war’s longest ceasefire in March, Trump has repeatedly issued dramatic ultimatums to pressure Hamas to agree to longer pauses in the fighting that would see the release of more hostages and a return of more aid for Gaza’s civilians.

Still, Trump views the current moment as a potential turning point in the brutal conflict that has left more than 57,000 dead in the Palestinian territory.

Gaza's Health Ministry said the death toll passed the 57,000 mark Tuesday into Wednesday, after hospitals received 142 bodies overnight. The ministry doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants in its death count, but says that more than half of the dead are women and children.

Since dawn Wednesday, Israeli strikes killed a total of 40 people across the Gaza Strip, the ministry said. Hospital officials said four children and seven women were among the dead.

The Israeli military, which blames Hamas for the civilian casualties because it operates from populated areas, was looking into the reports.

The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages.

The war has left the coastal Palestinian territory in ruins, with much of the urban landscape flattened in the fighting. More than 90% of Gaza's 2.3 million population has been displaced, often multiple times. And the war has sparked a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, pushing hundreds of thousands of people toward hunger.

Hospital director killed

The director of the Indonesian Hospital, Dr. Marwan Sultan, was killed in an apartment in an Israeli strike west of Gaza City, a hospital statement said. The hospital is the Palestinian enclave’s largest medical facility north of Gaza City and has been a critical lifeline since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

The hospital was surrounded by Israeli troops last month, and evacuated alongside the other two primary hospitals in northern Gaza.

The bodies of Sultan, his wife, daughter and son-in-law, arrived at Shifa Hospital torn into pieces, according to Issam Nabhan, head of the nursing department at the Indonesian Hospital.

“Gaza lost a great man and doctor," Nabhan said. "He never left the hospital one moment since the war began and urged us to stay and provide humanitarian assistance. We don’t know what he did to deserve getting killed.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hamas says it is studying ceasefire proposal labelled 'final' by Trump

Hamas said on Wednesday it was studying what U.S. President Donald Trump called a "final" ceasefire proposal for Gaza but that Israel must pull out of the enclave, while Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas would be eliminated.

Trump had said on Tuesday that Israel had agreed to the conditions needed to finalise a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas after what he described as a "long and productive" meeting between his representatives and Israeli officials.

In a statement, Hamas said it was studying new ceasefire offers it received from the mediators Egypt and Qatar but stressed it aimed to reach an agreement that would ensure an end to the war and an Israeli pullout from Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the elimination of Hamas in his first public remarks since Trump's announcement.

"There will not be a Hamas. There will not be a Hamastan. We're not going back to that. It's over," Netanyahu told a meeting hosted by the Trans-Israel pipeline.

The statements from the two sides reiterated long-held positions, giving no clues as to whether or how a compromise agreement could be reached. Trump's announcement had raised some hope among Gazans for at least a temporary relief from war.

"I hope it would work this time, even if for two months, it would save thousands of innocent lives," Kamal, a resident of Gaza City, said by phone.

Others questioned whether Trump's statements would deliver long-term peace, saying it was not the first time he had said a peace deal was close.

"We hope he is serious like he was serious during the Israeli-Iranian war when he said the war should stop, and it stopped," said Adnan Al-Assar, a resident of Khan Younis in Gaza's south.

There is growing public pressure on Netanyahu to reach a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-long war, a move strongly opposed by hardline members of his right-wing ruling coalition.

At the same time, U.S. and Israeli strikes on nuclear sites in Iran and a recently agreed ceasefire in last month's 12-day conflict have put pressure on Hamas, which is backed by Tehran.

Israeli leaders also believe that, with Iran weakened, other countries in the region have an opportunity to forge ties with Israel.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said a majority within the coalition government would back an agreement that would see the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza.

"If there is an opportunity to do so - we must not miss it!", he wrote on X. Of 50 hostages still held, around 20 are believed to be still alive.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid posted that his party could provide a safety net if hardline members of the cabinet opposed a deal, effectively pledging not to back a no-confidence motion in parliament that could topple the government.

COMPLETE END?

For Gazans, who have fled multiple times and face daily struggles to find food 21 months into Israel's military campaign, there was a glimmer of optimism but many worried that any ceasefire would only be temporary.

"We want a complete end to the war on Gaza, not like every time - a partial agreement and ceasefire that lasts a month or two, then the war returns," said Samir Al-Masri in Khan Younis.

At the end of May, Hamas had said it was seeking amendments to a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal, which Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff said was "totally unacceptable."

That proposal had involved a 60-day ceasefire and the release of half the hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the remains of other Palestinians; Hamas would release the remaining hostages as part of a deal that guarantees the end of the war.

"Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War," Trump posted on Tuesday, without specifying the conditions.

A source close to Hamas said its leaders were expected to debate the proposal and seek clarifications from mediators before giving an official response.

Gaza health authorities said Israeli gunfire and military strikes killed at least 139 Palestinians in northern and southern areas in the past 24 hours, and the Israeli military ordered more evacuations late on Tuesday.

Among those killed was Marwan Al-Sultan, director of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, in an airstrike that has also killed his wife and five children, medics say.

The Israeli military said in response to questions on the air strike that it had targeted a "key terrorist" from Hamas, without giving a name, in the Gaza City area. It added that it was reviewing reports of civilian casualties and said that the military regretted any harm to "uninvolved individuals", and takes steps to minimize such harm.

The war began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took 251 hostages back to Gaza in a surprise attack that led to Israel's single deadliest day.

Israel's subsequent military assault has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry, displaced almost the whole 2.3 million population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis.

More than 80% of the territory is now an Israeli-militarized zone or under displacement orders, according to the UN.