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US President Joe Biden has urged Hamas to accept a new Israeli proposal to end the conflict in Gaza, saying that "it's time for this war to end".

The three-part proposal would begin with a six-week ceasefire in which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would withdraw from populated areas of Gaza.

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There would also be a "surge" of humanitarian aid, as well as an exchange of some hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

The deal would eventually lead to a permanent "cessation of hostilities" and a major reconstruction plan for Gaza.

Hamas said it views the proposal "positively".

Speaking at the White House on Friday, Mr Biden said that the first phase of the proposed plan would include a "full and complete ceasefire", the withdrawal of IDF forces from populated areas and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

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"This is truly a decisive moment," he said. "Hamas says it wants a ceasefire. This deal is an opportunity to prove whether they really mean it."

The ceasefire, he added, would allow more humanitarian aid to reach the beleaguered territory, with "600 trucks carrying aid into Gaza every single day".

The second phase would see all remaining living hostages returned, including male soldiers. The ceasefire would then become "the cessation of hostilities, permanently."

Among those who have urged Hamas to agree to the proposal was UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who said on X that the group "must accept this deal so we can see a stop in the fighting".

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"We’ve long argued a stop in the fighting can be turned into a permanent peace if we are all prepared to take the right steps," Lord Cameron added. "Let’s seize this moment and bring this conflict to an end."

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also welcomed the development in a post to X, formerly known as Twitter. He said the world had "witnessed too much suffering [and] destruction in Gaza" and said it was "time to stop".

"I welcome [President] Biden’s initiative [and] encourage all parties to seize this opportunity for a ceasefire, release of all hostages, guaranteed unhindered humanitarian access [and] ultimately a durable peace in the Middle East," he added.

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In his speech, Mr Biden acknowledged that negotiations between phases one and two would be difficult.

As recently as a few days ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was letting it be known that he was implacably opposed to agreeing to end the war as part of a ceasefire deal - making Mr Biden's reference to the war's end particularly significant.

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The sun belts off the tin roofs of the shanties. Desperate people wait for drinking water to be delivered.

When it arrives, there’s chaos.

Dozens of people run to the truck, some even climbing on top of it to throw pipes in, pushing in to get their containers filled with water. It’s first come first served, and many people miss out.

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Mother-of-six Poonam Shah is one of those people.

“There are 10 people in my family – six kids, me and my husband, my in-laws, relatives come over sometimes – can we all bathe in one bucket of water?” she asks.

Today her family may not even have one bucket. Poonam was working her street food stall when the water truck arrived. She tried to run back for it – but it was too late, the water had run out.

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What are we supposed to do? There’s no water. I work in a shop, there’s no water there. But forget about the shop, we don’t have water for our kids.”

She’ll now look to buy water – it’ll cost up to half of the $3 she usually earns in a day selling samosas and other snacks.

As record heat grips northern India, the Delhi government has been forced to ration these free water deliveries. Previously, Poonam’s neighborhood received two to three tanker deliveries per day. Now it’s just the one.

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Temperatures in Delhi have been hovering above 40 degrees Celsius over the last week and on Tuesday they hit an all-time high of 49.9 degrees Celsius in one area of the capital, according to the Indian Meteorological Department.

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Shares of the Truth Social parent slipped immediately after former President Donald Trump, the company’s largest investor, was convicted in his hush-money trial, before mounting a comeback.( )

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group whipsawed after former President Donald J. Trump, the company’s largest investor and primary user of its Truth Social platform, was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal.

Trump Media’s stock began falling immediately after the verdict in Mr. Trump’s trial in Manhattan was announced on Thursday, which came after the stock market had closed. Shares sank by as much as 14 percent at one point before steadily recovering to trade up by 5 percent in premarket trading on Friday.( )

The company’s stock is typically volatile, so such large moves are not unusual, especially after the official close of regular trading, when low trading volumes can accentuate price swings. And much of the stock available to trade is owned by individual investors, many of them fans of the former president. Still, the shares are one of the few ways in which investors can react to the trial in real time, with initial price moves closely tied to news of the verdict.( )

Trump Media remains richly valued relative to the size of its business. Even after its recent decline, the company is worth more than $9 billion in market value. Mr. Trump owns about two-thirds of the company’s shares, a stake worth about $6 billion. The stock has become his main source of wealth since Trump Media make its market debut in March, but he cannot sell or borrow against the shares until September.( )

Trump Media has reported steep losses and modest revenue, which derives from advertising on Truth Social. In the first quarter of this year, the company recorded an operating loss of $12.1 million and $770,000 in revenue, a 30 percent drop in sales from the same period a year ago.( )

On Truth Social, which has become Mr. Trump’s personal megaphone to rail against judges, prosecutors and critics, many users rallied to his defense. The roughly seven million registered users of Truth Social are some of Mr. Trump’s most ardent supporters and many are also investors in Trump Media, which partly explains the sky-high valuation of the company’s shares.

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