TEL AVIV, Israel>> Hamas is seeking amendments to the latest U.S. ceasefire proposal for Gaza, a senior official with the group told The Associated Press on Saturday, but U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff called the Hamas response “totally unacceptable.”

The Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks, said proposed amendments focused on “the U.S. guarantees, the timing of hostage release, the delivery of aid and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.” There were no details.

A separate Hamas statement said the proposal aims for a permanent ceasefire, a comprehensive Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an ensured flow of aid. It said 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 others would be released “in exchange for an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners.” Fifty-eight hostages remain and Israel believes 35 are dead.

Witkoff on social media instead described a 60-day ceasefire deal that would free half the living hostages in Gaza and return half of those who have died. He urged Hamas to accept the framework proposal as the basis for talks that he said could begin next week.

Israeli officials have approved the U.S. proposal for a temporary ceasefire in the nearly 20-month war. U.S. President Donald Trump has said negotiators were nearing a deal.

“We want the bloodshed to stop,” Motasim, a man from the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, said of the talks. “I swear to God, we are tired.”

Desperation rises inside Gaza

Palestinians in Gaza blocked and offloaded 77 food trucks, the U.N. World Food Program said, as hunger mounts following Israel’s months-long blockade of the territory. The WFP said the aid, mostly flour, was taken before the trucks could reach their destination.

A witness in the southern city of Khan Younis, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, told the AP the U.N. convoy was stopped at a makeshift roadblock and offloaded by desperate civilians in their thousands.

The nearly three-month blockade on Gaza has pushed the population of more than 2 million to the brink of famine. While pressure slightly eased in recent days as Israel allowed some aid to enter, aid organizations say far from enough food is getting in.

Israel’s military body in charge of aid coordination in Gaza, COGAT, said 579 trucks of aid had entered over the past week. The U.N. has said 600 per day were entering under the previous ceasefire that Israel ended with new bombardment.

The WFP said the fear of starvation in Gaza is high.

“We need to flood communities with food for the next few days to calm anxieties and rebuild the trust with communities that more food is coming,” it said in a statement, adding that it has more than 140,000 metric tons of food — enough to feed Gazans for two months — ready to be brought in.

The United Nations said in May that Israeli authorities have forced them to use unsecured routes within areas controlled by Israel’s military in the eastern areas of Rafah and Khan Younis, where armed gangs are active and trucks were stopped.

Attacks, gangs and lack of protection hamper U.N. distribution

An internal document shared with aid groups about security incidents, seen by the AP, said there were four incidents of facilities being looted in three days at the end of May, not including Saturday’s.

The U.N. says it has been unable to get enough aid in because of fighting. On Friday, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said it only picked up five truckloads of cargo from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, and the other 60 trucks had to return due to intense hostilities.

A new U.S.- and Israeli-backed foundation started operations in Gaza this week, distributing food at several sites in a chaotic rollout.

Israel says the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation eventually will replace the aid operation that the U.N. and others have carried out during nearly 20 months of war. It says the new mechanism is necessary, accusing Hamas of siphoning off large amounts of aid. The U.N. denies that significant diversion takes place.

The GHF works with armed contractors, which it says are needed to distribute food safely. Aid groups have accused the foundation of militarizing aid.

Israeli strikes kill 60

Israel continued its military campaign across Gaza, saying it struck dozens of targets over the past day. Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 60 people were killed by Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours.

The ministry said three people were killed by Israeli gunfire early Saturday in Rafah. Three others were killed — parents and a child — when their car was struck in Gaza City. An Israeli strike hit another car in Gaza City, killing four. And an Israeli strike hit a tent sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis, killing six, said Weam Fares, a spokesperson for Nasser Hospital.

Israel’s military said several projectiles from Gaza fell in open areas.