The United States has put forward a new proposal that would secure the release of a handful of living hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a month-long extension of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, a source familiar with the negotiations said.

The two sides are supposed to negotiate a second phase of the cease-fire agreement that would end the war, but they remain far apart on how to move forward.

While fighting has not resumed since the March 1 ceasefire expiration, Israel has cut off humanitarian aid to Gaza to press Hamas.

United Nations-backed human rights experts have accused Israel of “the systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other gender-based violence” in its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, quickly condemned the report’s findings as baseless.

An Israeli airstrike destroyed a residential building on the outskirts of Damascus on Thursday in the latest Israeli incursion into post-Assad Syria.

An Israeli airstrike targeted a building in an upscale neighborhood, destroying an apartment that neighbors said had been vacant for years.