Benjamin Netanyahu

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called on Western nations to exert pressure on Israel to halt the ongoing conflict, following Hamas' acceptance of a ceasefire proposal.

"We welcomed the statement by Hamas that they accepted the ceasefire following our suggestions," Erdoğan told reporters in the capital Ankara late on May 6.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Monday informed mediators Qatar and Egypt that Hamas had accepted their proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza after nearly seven months of war.

The German foreign ministry on Monday criticised Israel's decision to bar Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera and called for the protection of press freedom.

"A free and diverse press landscape is an important cornerstone of any liberal democracy," the ministry wrote on X, formerly Twitter, adding that the move "sends the wrong signal".

Hamas said its delegation was heading to Cairo on Saturday to resume Gaza truce talks, as the United Nations warned that Israel's threatened assault on the city of Rafah could produce a "bloodbath".

Foreign mediators have been waiting for the Palestinian militant group to respond to a proposal to halt fighting for 40 days and exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

A senior Turkish official has announced that Ankara will present evidence to the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding the investigation into Israel amid expectations of arrest warrants being issued against Israeli officials over the country's strikes on Gaza.

President Gustavo Petro said Wednesday Colombia will sever diplomatic ties with Israel, whose government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he described as "genocidal" in its war in Gaza.

Hamas will respond to an Israeli truce proposal for Gaza "within a very short period", an official with the Palestinian militant group said Wednesday, stressing though that any ceasefire needs to be permanent.

Hamas is considering a plan for a 40-day ceasefire and the exchange of scores of hostages for larger numbers of Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under grave pressure over possible arrest warrants for him and other senior Israeli officials by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over Israel's offensives in the Gaza war.

Top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken urged Hamas to accept a truce in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to send troops into its far southern city of Rafah.

Washington has heightened pressure on all sides to reach a ceasefire — a message pushed by Blinken, who was on his seventh regional tour since the Gaza war broke out in October.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the Israeli military will launch a ground offensive in Rafah "with or without" a truce with Hamas in Gaza.