Hamas has expressed its openness to any agreements or ideas for establishing a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. A senior Hamas official, said yesterday that the agreements or ideas should include the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the entire Gaza Strip, the lifting of the blockade, and the provision of relief, support, and shelter, as well as a prisoner swap deal.

On the other hand, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday announced a proposal for a two-day ceasefire in Gaza to exchange four Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. Several rounds of talks in this regard have been held in Doha and Cairo over the past months but failed to produce any serious agreements to end the yearlong conflict.

In the Meantime, The US has said it is deeply troubled by the adoption of legislation in Israel that would ban the operation of a UN agency for Palestinian refugees. The State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller has said that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA’s) role is critical not only in Gaza, but also in the West Bank and the broader West Asia region.

On the other front, The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has said in a statement that peacekeepers were injured as a rocket hit the agency’s headquarters in Naqoura, southwest of Lebanon. A rocket hit yesterday causing a fire in a vehicle repair shop. Some of the soldiers sustained minor injuries. In recent days, five UNIFIL personnel were injured during battles between the Israeli army and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.