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CAIRO: Hamas suggested Wednesday that it was open to a ceasefire agreement with Israel, but stopped short of accepting a US-backed proposal announced by President Donald Trump hours earlier, insisting 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 US 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.

Israel and Hamas disagree 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 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.

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 US 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.

Israel has yet to publicly comment on Trump’s announcement. On Monday, Trump is set to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, days after Ron Dermer, a senior Netanyahu adviser, held discussions with top US 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 56,000 dead in the Palestinian territory. The Gaza Health 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 Health 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 percent 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.

TEHRAN: Iran on Wednesday formally suspended its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, a measure drawn up in the wake of unprecedented Israeli and US strikes on the Islamic republic’s nuclear sites.

The war between Iran and Israel, which broke out on June 13 and lasted for 12 days, has intensified tensions between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

On June 25, a day after a ceasefire took hold, Iranian lawmakers overwhelmingly voted in favor of the bill to suspend cooperation with the agency.

State media said on Wednesday that the legislation had cleared the final hurdle and was in effect.

The text, published by Iranian media, states that the legislation aims to “ensure full support for the inherent rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran” under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, and “especially uranium enrichment.”

The issue of enrichment was at the core of disagreements between Washington and Tehran in nuclear negotiations that had been derailed by the war.

Israel and some Western countries had for long accused Iran of seeking to quire nuclear weapons — an ambition Tehran has consistently denied.

The text of the law did not specify concrete moves linked to the suspension of cooperation with the IAEA, whose inspectors have had access to declared nuclear facilities.

Following the parliament vote, the bill was approved by the Guardian Council, a body tasked with vetting legislation, before a final ratification from the presidency.

Iranian President “Masoud Pezeshkian promulgated the law suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” state TV said on Wednesday.

Iranian officials have sharply criticized the IAEA for what they described as the agency’s “silence” in the face of the Israeli and US attacks on Iranian nuclear sites.

Tehran has also lambasted the UN agency for a resolution adopted on June 12 that accuses Iran of non-compliance with its nuclear obligations.

Iranian officials said the resolution was among the “excuses” for the Israeli attacks.

On Wednesday, senior judiciary official Ali Mozaffari said that IAEA director Rafael Grossi should “be held accountable” for what he called “preparing the groundwork for the crime” against Iran, referring to Israel’s air raids.

Mozaffari accused Grossi of “deceptive actions and fraudulent reporting,” according to Iranian news agency Tasnim.

Iran has rejected a request from Grossi to visit nuclear facilities bombed during the war, and earlier this week Pezeshkian decried his “destructive” conduct.

Iran has said Grossi’s request to visit the bombarded sites signalled “malign intent” but insisted there were no threats against him or against inspectors from his agency.

France, Germany and Britain have condemned unspecified “threats” against the IAEA chief.

Iran’s ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper has recently claimed that documents showed Grossi was an Israeli spy and should be executed.

On Monday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the parliament vote to halt cooperation with the IAEA reflected the “concern and anger of the Iranian public opinion.”

The 12-day war began when Israel launched a major bombing campaign on Iran and killed top military commanders and nuclear scientists, with Tehran responding with waves of missiles and drones launched at Israel.

On June 22, Israel’s ally the United States launched unprecedented strikes of its own on Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz.

More than 900 people were killed in Iran, according to the judiciary.

Iran’s retaliatory attacks killed 28 people in Israel, according to authorities.

US President Donald Trump said the US attacks had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, though the extent of the damage was not clear.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has admitted “serious” damage to nuclear sites.

But in a recent interview with CBS Evening News, he said: “One cannot obliterate the technology and science... through bombings.”