While UN and European officials hope that a cease-fire deal would help ease suffering among the Strip’s population, Israelis worry that as in the

Hamas has rejected a 60-day Gaza ceasefire proposal, a senior official in Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office told reporters Saturday.

The Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, killing nearly 57,800 Palestinians so far, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages and the spread of diseases.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has attended a memorial service for two slain Israeli Embassy staffers at the end of his trip to Washington.

Netanyahu said, “I believe there’s a good chance we will reach a ceasefire, and it will bring us closer to the goal I have set.”