Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the hostage families in Gaza that Israel has accepted a new proposal for a ceasefire presented by US President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkov, according to Israeli.

The Palestinian armed organization Hamas said earlier that it has received the new proposal from the mediators and is studying it, as Reuters reports.

According to Israeli media, the proposal includes a 60 -day ceasefire and the release of ten hostages. Hamas should also deliver the carcasses of 18 abductors, in return for the liberation of Palestinians from Israeli prisons.

If during the Israeli and Hamas truce they reach an agreement to end the war, the rest of the hostages held in Gaza will be released.

On the basis of the proposal, the distribution of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave will be re -undertaken by the United Nations and other international relief organizations.

Provocative announcement by Israel: 22 new Jewish settlements in occupied West Bank

Meanwhile, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotric announced this morning the creation of 22 new Jewish settlements on the occupied West Bank, with the risk of further wandering the strained relations between Israel and much of the international community.

“We made a historical decision (…): 22 new settlements in Judea-Samaria,” said far-right Minister Smotric, using the name given by the Israelis on the West Bank, Palestinian territory that Israel has occupied since 1967.

Israel Says it Will Establish 22 Jewish Settlements in the Occupied West Bank. They would include new settlements and the Legalization of Outposts Already Built Without Government Authorization. https://t.co/mwkgz9biov

– The Associated Press (@ap) May 29, 2025

According to a map made public by Likud, the right party of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the 22 planned settlements are distributed across the West Bankfrom the north to the south, but also in its center.

Many leading Netanyahu government ministers have openly called for the annexation of the West Bank and the displacement of a large number of Palestinian residents.

Smotrich’s announcement was made after US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkov said yesterday, Wednesday that it had a “very good sense” for the ability to conclude a truce in Gaza after 600 days.

The West Bank, which the Palestinians want as the central part of their state, along with Gaza and East Jerusalem, was occupied by the Israeli forces in 1967 and has remained under military occupation since then.

Israel has been disputed, and in violation of international lawit has created numerous Jewish settlements throughout the West Bank. The United Nations Security Council has repeatedly confirmed that the settlements in this territory are a “blatant violation of international law”.

Israel disagrees and invokes the historical and biblical bonds of the Jews with the region.