Hamas says it's studying Gaza cease-fire proposal, but appears to rule out key provisions

Hamas officials said Friday that the group is studying a proposed cease-fire deal that would include prolonged pauses in fighting in Gaza and swaps of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, but the militants appeared to rule out some key components.

Hamas remains committed to its initial demands for a permanent cease-fire, the group’s top political leader Ismail Haniyeh and a senior Beirut-based official, Osama Hamdan, said. Hamdan also said the group seeks the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners being held for acts related to the conflict with Israel, including those serving life sentences.

He mentioned two by name, including Marwan Barghouti, a popular Palestinian uprising leader seen as a unifying figure. Hamdan’s comments on the prisoners were the most detailed demands yet raised by the group in public.

The insistence on large-scale prisoner releases and an end to the fighting in Gaza put the group at odds with the multi-stage proposal that officials from Egypt, Israel, Qatar and the United States put forth this week. That proposal does not include a permanent cease-fire.

After days of expressing optimism over progress toward a deal, mediators were still working to close wide gaps between Israel and Hamas. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken planned to fly to the region Sunday to help push the efforts, making stops in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and the West Bank, the State Department said.

Haniyeh said in a statement Friday that negotiations must “completely end” the Israeli offensive in Gaza and bring the withdrawal of Israeli forces — demands that Israel has rejected.

Referring to the proposal for successive pauses in fighting, Hamdan told Lebanon’s LBC television: “There is no way that this will be acceptable by the resistance.”

Israeli leaders have said they will keep fighting until Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, is crushed, even while agreeing to long pauses that are accompanied by the release of hostages.

Hamas and other militants captured about 250 hostages during their deadly Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the war. They continue to hold dozens of captives, after more than 100 were released during a one-week truce in November. Those releases were in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Since Israel’s offensive began, more than 27,000 Palestinians have been killed and 66,000 wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The conflict has also leveled vast swaths of the tiny coastal enclave, displaced 85% of its population and pushed a quarter of residents to starvation.

Hamdan also said Hamas wants to free Palestinian prisoners of all factions — not just those affiliated with the militant group. In addition to Barghouti, he named Ahmed Saadat, the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a small PLO faction.

The prisoner release is a “national cause, not only for Hamas,” he said.

Both Barghouti and Saadat were convicted of involvement in fatal attacks during the second Palestinian uprising against Israel’s occupation a generation ago.

Alluding to additional points of dispute, Hamdan also said that Israel is carving out a buffer zone on the Gaza side of the border. Israel has not acknowledged such plans officially, but satellite photos show new demolition in a 1-kilometer-wide (0.6-mile-wide) swath within Gaza along the border with Israel.

As the war nears the four-month mark, fighting continued in the southern city of Khan Younis. The Israeli military said Friday that its efforts focused on fighters, weapons and infrastructure in the city, a key target of Israel’s ground offensive in recent weeks.

Israeli fire hit the headquarters of the Palestinian Red Crescent at Khan Younis’ Amal Hospital on Friday, killing four people, including a Red Crescent staffer, the organization said. It was the third staff member killed this week.

Israeli troops have surrounded the hospital for 12 days amid heavy bombardment and gunfire, and supplies are running out, the Red Crescent said. It called for a safe corridor to evacuate patients.

Tens of thousands of residents of Khan Younis and surrounding areas have fled south to the town of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, where already more than a million people from across Gaza have taken refuge. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Thursday that after Israeli troops seize Khan Younis, they will move on Rafah, though he did not give a time frame. That prospect has raised fears about where the population would go to find safety.

The United Nations said Rafah is becoming a “pressure cooker of despair.”

“We fear for what comes next,” said Jens Laerke, spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “It’s like every week we think, you know, it can’t get any worse. Well, go figure. It gets worse.”

Another Hamas official said Friday that the group would give its reply on the cease-fire proposal “very soon” and ask for several unspecified changes. He refused to give any details on what they’re seeking or how many hostages would be released in return for how many prisoners.

Qatar and Egypt have been serving as mediators between Israel and Hamas. A senior Egyptian official familiar with the discussions described the multi-stage proposal, which he said Hamas had sent positive signals about. The Egyptian official and the Hamas official spoke on condition of anonymity because the indirect talks are still ongoing.

The proposal, according to the Egyptian official, includes an initial cease-fire of six to eight weeks during which Hamas would release elderly hostages, women and children in return for hundreds of Palestinians jailed by Israel.

Throughout that phase, negotiations would continue on prolonging the cease-fire and releasing more prisoners and hostages. Israel would allow the number of aid trucks entering Gaza to increase up to 300 daily — from a few dozen currently — and let displaced Gaza residents gradually return to their homes in the north, according to the proposal.

 

AP

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian military reports gains against Ukrainian troops

The Russian military is making advances at multiple locations along the frontline in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), according to a daily press briefing of the country’s Defense Ministry released on Friday.

Over the past 24 hours, Moscow’s troops have inflicted heavy casualties on the adversary, amounting to up to 795 servicemen. The DPR saw intense combat at multiple locations, with the troops “taking up better positions”near the village of Klescheevka, located to the southwest of the town of Artyomovsk (known in Ukraine as Bakhmut). The small village has been experiencing heavy combat for months, following the liberation of Artyomovsk early last year.

The Russian military reported destroying multiple pieces of military hardware, including assorted armored and soft vehicles, as well as several artillery pieces, including two US-made M777 towed howitzers. The military said it conducted multiple long-range attacks on Ukrainian ammunition stockpiles, troops, and hardware assembly points in more than 100 locations.

On Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported making advances and “taking up better positions,” including in the vicinity of the DPR town of Liman. Liberated early into the ongoing conflict, the town fell back under Ukrainian control in late 2022.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu revealed fresh estimates on the casualties sustained by  Ukrainian forces over the past month. All in all, Ukraine lost more than 23,000 troops in January, the minister claimed during a meeting with top Russian military commanders on Friday, stating his forces now “hold the strategic initiative along the entire line of contact.”

Over the past month, the Ukrainian military has also suffered heavy equipment losses, with over 3,000 heavy hardware pieces destroyed. The losses include multiple US-supplied Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, HIMARS multiple rocket launcher systems, German-supplied Leopard main battle tanks and other hardware provided to Kiev by its Western sponsors, according to Shoigu.

 

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine's Zelenskiy hails arrival of new air defence systems

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the arrival on Friday of two new air defence systems that he said could "shoot down anything".

Zelenskiy also said that he and his top commanders had discussed conditions along the 1000-km (600-mile) frontline of the war against Russia, singling out the situation in the beleaguered town of Avdiivka as "extraordinarily difficult".

In his nightly video address, the president pointedly said he could give no details of the newly arrived air defence systems but described them as the culmination of "working tirelessly at various levels for months".

"But these are systems that can shoot down anything," he said. "We will be protecting the regions. And while the systems are not yet sufficient for the complete defence of Ukraine, we are working towards that goal every day."

Beefing up air defence has been one of the key priorities for defending cities, towns and infrastructure against Russian missile and drone attacks.

Zelenskiy has previously lauded the U.S.-made Patriot air defence system as critical to safeguarding Ukrainian skies and able to down all types of Russian missiles.

And U.S. Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said in Kyiv this week that a new "small-diameter" bomb able to hit targets at greater distances would soon arrive in the country.

Zelenskiy's account of Friday's command meeting said one of the reports was presented by Armed Forces Commander in Chief Valery Zaluzhnyi. Unconfirmed news reports have suggested this week that the president intended to fire the commander.

The two men have had differences for months about the conduct of the war after last year's Ukrainian counter-offensive produced only limited results.

Zelenskiy said "special attention" had been given at the meeting to the situation in Avdiivka, which has been under sustained Russian attack for more than three months. Officials say not a single building in the town remains intact.

The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces, in its evening report, said its forces had repelled 19 attacks around the town in eastern Donetsk region and a further 10 in nearby areas.

The town was briefly captured in 2014 by pro-Russian forces who seized large chunks of territory but later retaken by Ukraine. It is seen as a gateway to the regional centre of the Russian-held city of Donetsk, about 20 km to the east.

A former Ukrainian commander, Yevhen Dykiy, told the Espreso TV media outlet that Russian forces would be unable to seize Avdiivka through frontal attacks but they were getting closer to the sole road bringing in supplies.

"There is a risk that the Ukrainian armed forces may have to withdraw from Avdiivka," Dykiy said.

 

RT/Reuters

The owner of a trucking company in China landed in hot water with law enforcement after she admitted to installing GPS tracking devices on police cars in her area to help her trucks avoid them.

A woman in Xiangyang, Hubei province can consider herself lucky to have been slapped with eight days of administrative detention and a 500 yuan ($70) fine for a very serious crime – tracking the movements of police cars with the help of hidden GPS devices. Her scheme was accidentally discovered during a routine checkup when the traffic law enforcement brigade in Xiangyang found a mysterious black box attached to the chassis of one of their patrol cars. Further inspection revealed that the box contained a GPS tracker, which was subsequently found on six of the brigade’s 11 vehicles. By following the trail of the SIM cards associated with the tracking devices, authorities were able to find the culprit, a local woman named Zhu who admitted to tracking the movements of the police cars.

As the owner of a trucking fleet, Zhu came up with the idea of tracking local traffic patrol vehicles in order to increase her drivers’ chances of avoiding being pulled over and potentially fined. She admitted to carrying out the installation of the GPS trackers herself, by taking advantage of the police vehicles’ late-night parking at a Xiangzhou station.

Zhu bought six magnetic GPS trackers online for 350 yuan in June of last year and used them to track the cars via an app on her phone until late last month. She was thus able to pinpoint the locations of traffic police cars and alert her drivers to avoid them.

Such bold actions would be considered serious crimes in the Western world, but according to China Daily, Zhu only received an eith-day administrative detention and a 500 yuan fine, which sounds disproportionately trivial.

 

Oddity Central

It all began for me with a one-year public commitment to walk 20,000 steps a day, and to share my step count, a daily photo, and my insights on Facebook and Instagram.

I had been on a fitness journey for 10 years. I started as a runner. I eventually realized I enjoyed walking so much more so I made the decision to stop running and walk even more.

Five years later, I wanted to encourage and motivate others to do the same, so I started a blog and kicked it off with that splashy, public commitment to walk 20,000 steps every day.

The thing is, I had already been doing that for six months, and would continue for another year after the public commitment ended.

My journey started in the middle of March 2018 and in those two and a half years to August 31, 2020, I learned a great deal; in particular, five important lessons.

One: The Importance of a Pre-decision to Commit

I made a pivotal decision before starting: Whatever was going on in my life that day, I would always reach 20,000 steps. It made all the difference.

It meant I didn't wake up wondering how many steps I'd take; I just figured out how to achieve it. Even on tough days, like when my wife had breast cancer surgery, I found myself pacing the hospital's parking garage.

There was only one day, around six months in, that I was five steps short of 20,000. I didn't realize until weeks later and I think it was simply that I forgot to check my steps before I went to bed, so didn't finish the last few I needed to cross the line.

In the beginning, my emotions fluctuated each day. Some days, I was excited about reaching the 20,000 and how I was going to achieve that. Other days I just didn't feel like it.

I remember one day in particular about two months after I started. It was a cold and rainy afternoon and I still had a lot of steps to get through. I looked out the window thinking: What have I done? Why did I say I was going to do this?

But because I had already made that vital pre-decision to always follow through, I went on and did those 20,000 steps.

Two: Use the Emotional Payoff as Motivation

While the emotions on the front end of every day changed, what I felt at the end of the day having reached that goal was consistent: A sense of accomplishment and a deep satisfaction with myself.

That end-of-day feeling never changed, and it became the motivation on some days because I knew how great I would feel once I had completed all my steps.

Three: The Power of Personal Competition

I learned that competing against myself is a huge motivator. I may not be able to compete against you or other people, but I can compete against myself by setting personal challenges.

This was a powerful motivator, and it has continued to be a useful tool for me even after I stopped walking 20,000 steps a day.

For example, four years ago, my wife and I decided to drastically change our lives and move 500 miles away. I needed to do a lot of work on our house before it could sell and gave myself an unreasonable deadline to get it all done.

I was getting used to these personal challenges and actually beat my own deadline. This commitment to fitness can have far-reaching effects.

Four: The Realization I Can Do Hard Things

I walked 20,000 steps a day for two-and-a-half years. I did it. And that's hard!

I don't have a personal history of leaning into the difficult things in life. I've given up or failed at a lot of hard situations or challenges, and I've doubted my resilience.

But not this time. I did a hard thing every single day for a long period, and that consistency showed me I can do it. It is an incredibly rewarding feeling to know what you're capable of.

The day after we moved into our new house, my wife was in a terrible car crash that put her in a wheelchair for two months.

During those early weeks of recovery, she needed me to help her with just about everything. It was really hard, but I now had a history of doing hard things

Five: My True Strength

Beyond the physical benefits of walking 20,000 steps a day, and the huge improvements to my fitness, this journey made me feel emotionally and mentally strong.

I realized I could do a hard thing...and do it for a while. Before this two-and-a-half year streak began, I knew I could walk 20,000 steps in a day. I even knew I could do it for a few days.

But I didn't know if I had the mental strength to build a streak this long. This challenge flipped my internal narrative on its head. Now I know I'm capable of far more than I believed before.

Taking Control Again

With all these benefits and insights, you might wonder why I stopped at two-and-a-half years.

It wasn't due to injury or sickness. I simply decided that it was becoming too big a feature of my life, and was actually starting to control it.

I didn't want this fitness activity to control me, but rather be something that I am in control of, and using in pursuit of my health and wellness.

The decision to stop wasn't easy. But I had to make it for my own wellbeing.

The truth is that you don't need to walk 20,000 steps every day. You don't even need 10,000 steps, particularly if you're only at the beginning of your fitness journey.

Start with a commitment to walk every day for 10 minutes and stick at it so this becomes an established habit. Then you can build from there and enjoy all the benefits to your life that walking has to offer.

** David Paul hosts Walking Is Fitness, a daily ten-minute podcast helping people to begin a new fitness journey that sticks.

 

Newsweek

The depreciation of the naira against the United States dollar by 55 per cent at the official foreign exchange market has led to a commensurate depreciation in airfares on international routes in Nigeria.

The naira had fallen from approximately 900/dollar to over 1,400/dollar on Monday after the FMDQ Exchange, which records data the nation’s official exchange rate, reviewed its methodology for calculating the rate.

The review came after the Central Bank of Nigeria accused approved foreign exchange dealers of reporting false figures.

However, barely 24 hours after the movement of the official exchange rate, international airlines operating in Nigeria moved the exchange rate for pricing their tickets to from about N900/dollar to N1,421/dollar.

The development led to approximately 55 per cent in international airfares on Nigerian routes.

Findings by our correspondent on Wednesday showed that ticket prices on Lagos-London-Lagos, Lagos-New York-Lagos, Lagos-Johannesburg, Lagos, among other top destinations had increased commensurately.

President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies, Susan Akporiaye, who confirmed the sharp increased, said the development would compound the woes of travel agencies.

“We have been feeling the pinch for a long time, and the situation is just getting worse. People who are traveling are not doing so for fun; they are traveling for serious business like medical or even education. It’s no longer about leisure,” Akporiaye told our correspondent.

Akporiaye explained that travelers were reluctantly parting with money, and given a choice, they wouldn’t pay at all.

“For instance, an air ticket that used to cost $1000 has now surged to N1.5m. The financial strain is a necessity for travelers, forcing them to squeeze their budgets.”

She said the industry operators empathised with their situation, with some passengers resorting to appealing and offering collateral just to pursue their objectives and travel.

The president said the prices would undoubtedly decrease, adding that, “I am optimistic. It’s not the fault of the airlines; rather, it’s a reflection of the country’s economic situation.”

The NANTA leader said at the moment there was no noticeable difference between the rates in the black market and the official window of the forex market.

As such, she advised airlines to open up lower inventory options to encourage travelers already financially burdened.

“I suggest that airlines contemplate offering lower inventory options, enabling customers to access flights for maybe N1m. This customer-centric approach recognises the financial constraints faced by many travelers.

“The higher inventory, nearing almost N5m, shows variations with some options open while others remain closed. It’s crucial to emphasize that airlines are not responsible for setting the exchange rate.”

Price checks by The PUNCH revealed that the average airfare ticket to some of the high-traffic international destinations like London cost N2.77m; Dubai N2.65m; New York N3.2667m; and Johannesburg N3.05m.

For the Lagos-Johannesburg-Lagos route, depending on the travel date, Africa World Airlines charges N2.7m, while Turkish Airlines sets the price at N3.4m. The airfare for a round-trip from Lagos to Dubai is N2.3m with Turkish Airlines, and N3m with Lufthansa.

An agent at Travel and Tours Limited, Maureen Chimaobi informed The PUNCH that the naira’s exchange rate of naira to dollar is getting worse for travelers.

“As of Monday, the exchange rate was  $1 to N1450. I don’t know how much it sold today..”

“This ugly development is no longer only limited to the aviation sector, prices of goods and services have generally gone up. Even local commodities are not left out.”

On June 14, 2023, the naira fell signficantly following the decision to allow the currency to fluctuate freely, leading to a significant drop in its value. Since then, airlines and passengers have continued to struggle to bear the surging air ticket prices.

Despite the currency woes, our correspondent could not verify if there is any data to support that travel demands in Nigeria have dropped.

International Air Transport Association reported that African airlines’ annual traffic rose 38.7 per cent in 2023 versus the prior year.

“Full year 2023 capacity was up 38.3 per cent and load factor climbed 0.2 percentage points to 71.9 per cent, the lowest among regions. December 2023 traffic for African airlines rose 9.5 per cent over December 2022.”

 

Punch

It is estimated that about 70.92 million Nigerians are in extreme poverty, according to the World Poverty Clock. The figure translates to 11 per cent of the world’s extreme poor. This means that, at least, one out of every 10 extremely poor people live in Nigeria.

It would be recalled that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) had earlier in its report said over 133 million Nigerians were multidimensionally poor.

Sulaiman Adesina Yusuf of the Department of Agriculture Economics, University of Ibadan, related the statistics yesterday in Abuja in his presentation at a one-day public lecture.

The lecture was organised by the Federal Cares Unit of the Nigeria Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) programme.

Yusuf, who was the guest lecturer, said Nigeria ranked 163 out of 191 countries in 2021 on the Human Development Index (HDI), and 109 out of 125 countries in 2023 on the Global Hunger Index.

Yusuf said this was not only unacceptable for a country that hopes to compete at the global stage but also calls for concern from policymakers.

While acknowledging efforts made by successive administrations in the country to fund intervention programmes, he said the major challenge has been the lack of political will on the part of the government to fully fund the programme.

The don called for the passage of the Social Protection Bill to generate the political commitment for social protection at the federal and state levels as well as realign the allocation of resources to scale up social protection.

Earlier, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, commended the work NG-CARES is doing to lift Nigerians out of poverty. He said the current administration was very passionate about poverty alleviation, a reason President Tinubu, a few weeks ago, directed a wholesale review of the national social protection scheme.

“Much as you think we have achieved progress, there is a lot that remains to be done,” he said. He promised that the federal government would do all within its power and available resources to ensure that the sad tales of poverty were reversed.

 

The Guardian

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum has expressed full support for the creation of State Police, saying it will address the current security challenges confronting the country.

Governor of Bauchi State and Chairman of the forum, Bala Mohammed, said this on Thursday when he led his colleagues in the forum on a visit to Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau at the Government House in Jos.

Mohammed, who decried the rising security challenges across the country, said that state police would complement efforts of the conventional security agencies.

According to him, state police will provide opportunity for governors to handle the security situation in their respective states with ease.

”The ratio of police to the citizens is very low and the governors know the peculiarity of their states and how to tackle this challenge.

”So, we have been advocating for this.

“There is need for the decentralisation of the security apparatus so that we can deliver good governance by having state police.

”Again, it will give us the opportunity to engage the structure of the security agencies, training our youths and making sure the rules of engagement are not abused and there is no extrajudicial killings.

”We will work in tandem with the established best global practice than being forced to be using vigilante and even at that we are working with the secuirty agencies, but we are still being accused of pursuing our interest.

”We can see what is happening in Zamfara and the Amotekun in the South-West where citizens are sleeping with their eyes closed,” he said.

Mohmammed further said that PDP had always stood for good governance, in spite of the lean resources at their disposal.

He gave assurance that residents of PDP-controlled states would continue to enjoy the dividend of democracy.

Responding, Mutfwang thanked his colleagues for the solidarity visit, adding that it would further encourage the people to be firm at all times.

He said that the failure of previous administrations in the country toward tackling insecurity further aggravated the situation.

”Insecurity has become a serious challenge for us in this country and this is largely due to the neglect of previous governments.

”No one has been jailed in the past for these killkngs, which is why it has lingered.

”But we are not deterred. We will rebuild trust in our people because the lack of it has been one of the major issues,” Mutfwang said.

Govs. Ademola Adeleke of Osun, Sheyi Makinde of Oyo State, Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa, Peter Mbah of Enugu State and Godwin Obaseki of Edo were part of the visit.

The forum donated N100 million to Plateau Government to support victims of recent attacks in the state.

 

NAN

Gunmen on Thursday night invaded the palace of Olukoro of Koro in Ekiti local government area of Kwara State and killed the traditional ruler of the community, Segun Aremu, a retired army general.

The gunmen also whisked away the wife of the monarch and two others.

Koro in Kwara is the neighbouring town of Irele/Oke Ako/Ipao/Oke Aiyedun and Ikole and shares boundaries with Ekiti State where two monarchs were recently killed.

Spokeswoman of the Kwara State Police command, Toun Ejire-Adeyemi, confirmed the incident in a statement issued in the wee hours of Friday.

According to her, “immediate and intensive investigations are underway to apprehend those criminals for this reprehensible act.

“We assure the public that no stone will be left unturned in ensuring that the perpetrators are brought to justice swiftly.

“Security measures in the koro community have been intensified, tactical teams are being mobilised to beef up security to ensure the safety and well-being of residents”.

Toun added that the CP, Victor Olaiya, “urged the public to remain calm, vigilant, and cooperative as we work tirelessly to unravel this matter; arrest and charge the culprits to court.

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq described the incident as “reckless, shocking, and abominable”.

AbdulRazaq charged the security agencies not to spare any resources to track down the perpetrators, free the spouse and others taken away, and bring them to book.

“We will certainly get the perpetrators and ensure that this is their last crime against humanity.

“My profound condolences go to the people of Koro. Our hearts are broken, and we stand by them at this time and always” the governor added in the statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye.

 

Daily Trust

The family of Aondoove Gwaza, a director at the Federal Housing Authority Mortgage Bank in the Federal Capital Territory, who was abducted from his home, during an attack about 200 metres close to a military base in Pwanbara in the Bwari Area Council of Abuja, have been devastated, as the bandits are yet to contact his relatives as of Thursday night.

The bandits, who struck at about 12:30 am on Thursday, shot indiscriminately, causing panic in the area, before escaping through the bushes with the abductee.

Residents who confirmed the development to our correspondent on Thursday revealed that soldiers were stationed at a military base popularly known as ‘Camp,’ which is about 200 metres away from where the director was abducted in Pambara Extension.

They further noted that residents of the area that was attacked by bandits, include military personnel, both serving and retired, and civilians.

He said, “Bandits attacked Pambara Extension over the night, at about 12:30 am today (Thursday), and they abducted one of our neighbours, Aondoove Gwaza, who is a Director in Federal Housing Authority, FCT.

“The attack happened very close to a ‘Camp,’ the military base at the entrance of Bwari, very close to Pambara Extension. The part of Pambara Extension where Gwaza was kidnapped is just about 200 metres away from the military base. But the kidnappers escaped through the bushes with the victim.”

Another resident added, “The attack is still shocking to us. Our estate is very close to the military base here known as Camp, at the entrance of Bwari, and there are also serving and retired military personnel living with us here. Yet, these bandits were bold enough to attack this place and kidnap Gwaza.”

Meanwhile, a relative who spoke with our correspondent on Thursday, lamented that the bandits had yet to contact the relatives of Gwaza as of Thursday night.

He noted, “Aondoove Gwaza is my kinsman. He was kidnapped in Bwari over the night (Thursday). Up till now, the kidnappers have not called to ask for ransom. We are very worried, but we are trusting God for his safe release.”

The FCT is facing alarming surge in insecurity, prompting growing concerns among residents and authorities. The capital city, once considered relatively immune to the prevalent security challenges in other parts of the country, is now grappling with an escalating wave of criminal activities, particularly kidnappings.

Our correspondent could not reach the spokesperson for the Nigerian Army, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, as text messages and phone calls to his line were not answered.

Also, the spokesperson for the FCT Police Command, Josephine Adeh, could not be reached for comments as of press time.

 

Punch

Israel turns focus of Gaza attack to Rafah as Hamas weighs ceasefire proposal

Israel prepared to advance its war on Gaza farther south, close to the Egyptian border, after claiming to have dismantled Hamas in Khan Younis, as diplomatic efforts in pursuit of a ceasefire accelerated.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Thursday that success in the fight against the Palestinian militants in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, where Israel launched a major ground attack last week, meant its forces could advance to Rafah on the enclave's southern border.

More than half of Gaza's 2.3 million people are sheltering in this area, mainly cold and hungry in makeshift tents and public buildings.

"We are achieving our missions in Khan Younis, and we will also reach Rafah and eliminate terror elements that threaten us," Gallant said in a statement.

At the same time, Qatari and Egyptian mediators hoped for a positive response from Hamas, which runs Gaza, to the first concrete proposal for an extended halt to fighting, agreed with Israel and the U.S. at talks in Paris last week.

A Palestinian official close to the negotiations told Reuters the text envisages a first phase of 40 days, during which fighting would cease while Hamas freed remaining civilians among the more than 100 hostages it still holds. Further phases would see the handover of Israeli soldiers and bodies of dead hostages.

Such a long pause would be a first since Oct. 7, when Hamas fighters attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and capturing 253 hostages, precipitating an Israeli offensive that has laid waste to much of Gaza.

Health officials in the enclave said on Thursday the confirmed Palestinian death toll had risen above 27,000, with thousands more dead still lying under the rubble.

NO RESPONSE FROM HAMAS YET TO PROPOSAL

A Palestinian official said Hamas was unlikely to reject the proposal outright, but would demand guarantees that fighting would not resume, something Israel has not agreed to.

There was brief elation in Gaza on Thursday after remarks by a Qatari spokesman at Johns Hopkins University in Washington sparked ceasefire hopes - and a drop in the price of crude oil.

But Qatari officials in the capital Doha and Taher Al-Nono, media adviser to Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, said the group had not responded yet.

Gaza residents said Israeli forces pounded areas around hospitals in Khan Younis, and stepped up attacks close to Rafah. Combat has also surged in recent days in northern areas around Gaza City that Israel claimed to have subdued weeks ago.

Osama Ahmed, 49, a father of five from Gaza City now sheltering in western Khan Younis, said there had been fierce resistance in the city, and relentless bombardment from air, ground and sea as Israeli tanks advanced.

"All we want is a ceasefire now," he told Reuters by phone.

An air strike on a house in Khan Younis wounded 13 people on Thursday, according to hospital officials.

Appeals to Israel from its main ally, the United States, show little sign of having succeeded in easing the plight of Gaza's civilians.

Washington is stepping up indirect pressure, however.

U.S. President Joe Biden issued an executive order that aims to punish Jewish settlers who attack Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in an surge of violence triggered by the war in Gaza.

Biden is also under pressure to respond to the killing of three U.S. soldiers by a drone in Jordan last week, the first U.S. deaths in an escalation of violence across the Middle East since Israel's war in Gaza began in October.

The United States, which has said it does not want to ignite a wider war, believes the drone, which also wounded more than 40 people, was made by Iran, four U.S. officials told Reuters.

CBS News reported on Thursday that targets for U.S. strikes in Iraq and Syria in response to the killings include "Iranian personnel and facilities", citing American officials.

The U.S. is continuing its strikes with allies against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen, which has attacked shipping in the Red Sea in what it says is solidarity with Gaza.

The U.S. military said it had hit up to 10 drones in Yemen being prepared for launch, while a U.S. Navy ship downed three Iranian-made drones and a Houthi anti-ship missile.

 

Reuters