GAZA / JERUSALEM / UNITED NATIONS - Hamas said on Wednesday night that it has agreed to release 10 hostages, while noting that the ongoing Gaza peace talks with Israel still face "difficulty."

Hamas said in an official statement that it "has shown the necessary flexibility" and agreed to release 10 hostages, in a bid to ensure the success of the ongoing efforts.

Key points remain under negotiation, and foremost among them are the flow of aid, the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip, and the provision of real guarantees for a permanent ceasefire, the statement said.

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But there is "the difficulty of negotiations on these issues so far due to the intransigence of the occupation (Israel)," it added.

According to Israel's state-owned Kan TV, Israel has presented a new map in Doha outlining a partial pullback from the Morag Corridor, an area between Rafah and Khan Younis, southern Gaza's largest city, which Israeli forces have seized and turned into a fortified military zone.

The corridor, established in April, is one of several "security zones" Israel created by razing buildings and infrastructures to divide the enclave. Israeli officials had previously said the military would not withdraw from the Morag Corridor.

The official said that the new proposal marks "substantial progress" in the negotiations.

Negotiating teams have been in Doha since Sunday for indirect talks on a US-backed 60-day ceasefire proposal. The deal would include the release of 10 living hostages and the remains of several others. Israel estimates that around 50 hostages are still held in Gaza, with about 20 believed to be alive.

Israel launched its offensive on Oct 7, 2023, following a Hamas-led attack that killed about 1,200 people and saw 250 taken hostage. According to authorities in Gaza, at least 57,680 people have been killed since the start of the war.  

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Israel submits new withdrawal offer

Israel has submitted a new proposal to Qatari mediators for a partial withdrawal of its forces from Gaza, amid indirect talks on a ceasefire-for-hostages deal with Hamas, Israel's state-owned Kan TV reported on Wednesday.

According to the report, Israel presented a new map in Doha outlining a partial pullback from the Morag Corridor, an area between Rafah and Khan Younis, southern Gaza's largest city, which Israeli forces have seized and turned into a fortified military zone.

33 Palestinians killed in Gaza

At least 33 Palestinians were killed by Israeli shelling and gunfire in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Palestinian sources said, while the Israeli army said it struck over 100 targets throughout the Gaza Strip.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense Authority in Gaza, told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes and drones launched dozens of raids on various areas of the Gaza Strip since the early hours of morning, targeting residential homes and tents housing displaced persons.

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Basal said that 10 people, including two children, were killed and about 30 others injured when Israeli aircraft targeted the home of the Jouda family in the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City. Also in the city, one person was killed, and five others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a gathering of Palestinians in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood.

Since Israel resumed its intensified military campaign on March 18, at least 7,118 Palestinians have been killed and 25,368 injured, bringing the overall death toll in Gaza since the conflict began in October 2023 to 57,680, with a total of 137,409 people injured, according to health authorities in Gaza on Wednesday.

Israeli soldier killed

Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said on Wednesday that it killed an Israeli soldier during clashes in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip.

The incident occurred in the Abasan al-Kabira area, east of Khan Younis, as Hamas fighters attacked a gathering of Israeli soldiers and vehicles, targeting a tank and an armored personnel carrier with missiles, the brigades said in a press statement.

The brigades added that its members targeted two military excavators, and engaged with Israeli soldiers, noting that the field conditions did not permit them to capture one of the soldiers, so they killed him and took his weapon.

UN: Gaza fuel shortage shuts off water pumps

The Gaza fuel blockade has cut off water from 10 wells in the north of the Gaza Strip and threatens 25 more partially functioning wells, UN humanitarians said Wednesday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the Gaza Ministry of Health announced that the generator at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis was about to shut down, threatening the lives of dozens of patients, especially those on ventilators.

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"Shorter pumping hours, reduced water production and limited solid waste collection provide fertile ground for diseases to spread, especially among vulnerable people, including children, older people and pregnant women," said OCHA.

The office said its partners on the ground have expressed concerns over an increase in suspected cases of meningitis among children under five, particularly in Khan Younis and Gaza governorates. Cases of bloody diarrhea and acute jaundice syndrome have also been reported at overcrowded displacement sites.