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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaIsrael-Gaza war: Hamas responds to ceasefire offer with 135-day truce planPublished18 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsIsrael-Gaza warImage source, ReutersImage caption, Hamas is demanding the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza in a counteroffer to a US and Israel-backed ceasefire proposalBy Ido Vock & Lyse DoucetBBC NewsHamas has laid out a series of demands, including exchanging hostages for Palestinian prisoners and rebuilding Gaza, in response to an Israel-backed ceasefire proposal.The armed group wants a full withdrawal of Israeli forces and an end to the war after three 45-day truce phases.The offer is likely to be unacceptable to Israel’s prime minister, who has called for “total victory” in Gaza. The question is whether a middle ground can be reached to move the process on.Hamas’s response is a counteroffer to a ceasefire proposal backed by Israel and the US and mediated by Qatar and Egypt – details of which have not been made public.According to a draft of the Hamas document seen by the Reuters news agency, it suggests:A first 45-day pause in fighting during which all Israeli women hostages, males under 19, the elderly and sick would be exchanged for Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails. Israeli forces would withdraw from populated areas of Gaza and the reconstruction of hospitals and refugee camps would beginA second phase which would see remaining male Israeli hostages exchanged for Palestinian prisoners and Israeli forces leave Gaza completelyA third and final phase during which both sides would exchange remains and bodiesThe deal would also see deliveries of food and other aid to Gaza increase. By the end of the 135-day pause in fighting, Hamas says negotiations to end the war would have concluded. The proposal received a tepid response from US President Joe Biden, who called it “a little over the top”. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said there was still “a lot of work to be done” to reach a permanent ceasefire, but stressed the importance of reaching a lasting peace.A previous one-week truce in November saw about 100 hostages freed in a swap with 240 Palestinian prisoners. Around 1,200 people were killed during the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on 7 October last year. The armed group is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by many Western governments, including the UK and US.More than 27,500 Palestinians have been killed and at least 65,000 injured by the war launched by Israel in response, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.Demands by Hamas for a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces are likely to be seen as entirely unacceptable by Israel.While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists the goal is “total victory”, Israeli officials acknowledge that is still a long way off and some insist it is not even achievable militarily. Hamas responds to proposed Gaza ceasefire planWestern officials in protest over Israel Gaza policyAt least half of Gaza buildings damaged or destroyed, new analysis showsMr Netanyahu’s office says Hamas’s counteroffer has been delivered and is being “evaluated” by Israel.Earlier, a senior Hamas official told the BBC the armed group had “presented a positive vision” to the Israel-backed proposal but had asked for some amendments relating to the rebuilding of Gaza and the return of its residents to their homes.The US, one of the main brokers in these indirect Israel-Hamas talks, still sees this process as the “best path forward” and is pressing hard along with its Arab partners. Their goal is to achieve a sustained humanitarian pause, which could lead to a ceasefire and provide breathing space to focus on a more ambitious plan for the “day after” the end of the war.Mr Blinken called it an “incredibly powerful path” which would pave the way to the rebuilding of Gaza, a reformed Palestinian Authority and eventually a Palestinian state, as well as a normalisation of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. But the Israeli military is still focused on destroying Hamas brigades and hunting down Hamas leaders. And Mr Netanyahu, ever mindful of his own political survival, is under pressure from right-wing allies who warn they’ll bring down his government if he makes any concessions.Israeli families of hostages are growing ever more anxious about the fate of their loved ones, particularly following disclosures that a fifth of the more than 130 hostages remaining in Gaza are dead. The US and its Arab allies worry about the growing risks of a wider regional conflagration. And many international organisations are loudly warning of the deepening humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the Strip. Many clocks are ticking loudly.Related TopicsIsrael-Gaza warIsraelGazaMore on this storyWhy are Israel and Hamas fighting in Gaza?Published7 days agoWestern officials in protest over Israel Gaza policyPublished4 days ago’Will you come and get me?’ Gaza girl’s desperate plea before losing contactPublished1 day agoGaza Strip in maps: How life has changed in three monthsPublished15 JanuaryTop StoriesNHS dentist shortages to be tackled with cash incentivePublished2 hours agoLive. 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[ad_1] The proposal received a tepid response from US President Joe Biden, who called it “a little over the top”. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said there was still “a…
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityAsiaChinaIndiaSri Lanka: What’s killing so many of the country’s iconic elephants?Published6 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Sri Lanka’s endangered elephants are dying at an unprecedented rateBy Anbarasan Ethirajanin Sri LankaSumitra Malkandi breaks down as she recounts the fateful evening in March last year when her husband was trampled to death.She was busy in the kitchen – the couple lived in a farming village in central Sri Lanka – and her husband, Thilak Kumara, was just outside feeding their cows. Then she heard an elephant’s trumpeting roar.She said she was about to alert him, but “within minutes, the worst happened”. The elephant ran away after hearing the appalled cries of villagers.Ms Malkandi, a 45-year-old mother of three young daughters, said her family is yet to recover from the shock. She worries it could happen again. Surrounded by coconut, mango and banana trees, which elephants love to feast on, her house is nestled in a farm that is just a few hundred metres from a dense forest. Her village, Thalgaswewa in Kurunegala district, now finds itself on the frontlines of a worsening conflict between humans and elephants. The epic adventures of China’s wandering elephants Local officials say three people and 10 elephants have been killed in Thalgaswewa and nearby villages alone in the past two years. Villagers now fear venturing out of their homes after sunset. But the problem spreads itself far wider than just this one small area.Mr Kumara is one of 176 people who died in encounters with elephants in Sri Lanka last year. During the same period, 470 elephants died – half of them at the hands of humans, while the rest were killed by illness or in accidents. On average, that means, more than one elephant died each day of the year, while a human was killed every two days.As farming expands, it is encroaching elephant habitats, disrupting their food and water sources and putting people’s lives in danger. “All the food crops we cultivate are very attractive to them,” explains Prithiviraj Fernando, Sri Lanka’s foremost elephant expert.But it is also making future of Sri Lanka’s iconic elephants look precarious, with the latest figures showing a record number of deaths in 2023. Conservationists are seeking urgent action from the government because both casualty counts are the deadliest on record – and a stark reminder of the fatal consequences when humans cross paths with these majestic animals.”After the civil war ended [in 2009] the government started releasing [more] land to the public. These were no-go areas during the war,” said Chandima Fernando, an ecologist at the Sri Lanka Conservation Society. He says this has opened up more land for farming and settlements, bringing people into greater contact with elephants. Image caption, Illegal high-voltage fences have been killing elephants – this one was Kurunegala districtKilling elephants, which are endangered, is punishable by law in Sri Lanka where they hold religious and economic value. Domesticated elephants are often part of religious processions and a tourist attraction.That hasn’t stopped farmers from taking lethal precautions to protect their crops and themselves. While Sri Lanka allows electric fences to keep the animals away, the charge is just strong enough to stun them without causing serious injury. The country has some 5,000km (3,100 miles) of electric fencing, including around the homes in Thalgaswewa, and plans to expand it.But activists say farmers have also illegally set up fences with higher voltage that can kill elephants. They also use poison, explosive baits called “jaw bombs” and sometimes shoot at the animals to drive them away. Experts like Chandima Fernando recommend simpler and kinder methods, such as “cultivating citrus fruits or other crops that will not draw elephants”. World’s ‘saddest’ elephant dies in Philippines zooUncertain fate awaits Thailand’s elephant tourismAn estimated 5,800 elephants roam across Sri Lanka’s protected habitats – wetlands, grasslands, highlands and shrubland – although some experts fear the actual number could be far less. An elephant typically roams up to 48km a day, and stays close to fresh water. They do not walk long distances unless they run out of food.But when that happens – due to drought, for instance, in protected areas – they are drawn to nearby farms.The government itself has warned people about pushing elephants that wander out of protected areas back in, because shrinking forests cannot support too many elephants. Prithviraj Fernando was the head of an official committee set up in 2020 to draft a National Action Plan to lessen the impact of human-elephant conflict. The plan remained dormant the past few years as Sri Lanka went through an unprecedented economic crisis, but the sharp rise in elephant deaths has infused a sense of urgency.Image source, BBC/Anbarasan EthirajanImage caption, Apart from encounters with humans, shrinking habits and drought are also a risk for the animalsThe country’s elephant population has fallen almost 65% since the turn of the 19th Century, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature. A decade ago, Sri Lanka lost around 250 elephants a year. But the numbers have increased sharply in recent years with the deaths now exceeding 400 for the second year in a row. If elephant deaths continue to rise at the current rate, up to 70% of Sri Lanka’s elephants would be gone, Prithviraj Fernando said. What is also worrying experts is the large number of male elephants that are dying, putting the survival of the species at risk. The tuskers often wander into rural communities alone, which makes them more vulnerable.Is the worst over for Sri Lanka’s economic crisis?Parts of central Sri Lanka have not reported a single male elephant sighting in recent years, said Chandima Fernando. Before the pandemic, sightings were common.Researchers say that while elephant deaths outside protected areas are accounted for, they don’t know enough about what is happening inside forests, where illness, infighting or drought could be causes. Back in Thalgaswewa, Ms Malkandi says the chances of another encounter with an elephant terrify her. “More and more elephants keep coming to the farm,” she says. “We are scared to live here.”Related TopicsElephantsAsiaSri LankaMore on this story’Abused’ Thai elephant flown home from Sri LankaPublished3 July 2023Top StoriesLive. 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