Agencies Deir al-Balah 

Arab mediators are working on a proposal to end the Israel-Hamas war that would include a five to seven year truce and the release of all remaining hostages, officials said Wednesday. An Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City overnight killed at least 23 people, a health official said.

Egypt and Qatar are still developing the proposal, which would include the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the entire strip and the release of Palestinian prisoners, according to an Egyptian official and a Hamas official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief media.

Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas last month and has vowed to continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is either destroyed or disarmed and sent into exile. It has sealed off the territory from all imports, including food, and says it will hold parts of it indefinitely.

Hamas has said it will only release the dozens of hostages it still holds in return for Palestinian prisoners, a complete Israeli withdrawal and a lasting ceasefire, as called for in the now-defunct agreement reached in January. A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo late Tuesday to discuss the evolving proposal. 

The Egyptian official said the proposed truce, with international guarantees, would last between five and seven years, and that a committee of politically independent technocrats would govern Gaza - a measure Hamas has accepted. The Hamas official said the militant group is open to a long-term truce that includes the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and international guarantees, naming Russia, China, Turkey or the United Nations Security Council as possible guarantors.