The Hamas movement stated that it was “fully prepared to immediately start a round of negotiations” and that it had given a “positive” response to the mediators regarding the latest proposal for a 60-day ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip.
The US President Donald Trump announced last Tuesday that Israel had accepted a proposal for a ceasefire and expressed his hope that Hamas would also approve the agreement.
What is the new ceasefire proposal in Gaza like?
“Hamas concluded its internal consultations and with Palestinian factions and forces regarding the latest proposal from the mediators to stop the aggression against our people,” the statement said.
The movement “is fully prepared to immediately initiate a round of negotiations on the mechanism for the implementation of this framework," he added without giving further details.
The mediating countries between Israel and Hamas are the United States, Egypt, and Qatar.
According to the Israeli media Ynet, citing a Hamas source, the Islamists requested some minor changes to the proposal, including removing the aid distribution mechanism managed by the Humanitarian Foundation for Gaza (a foundation supported by Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu) and having the UN resume responsibility for distributing supplies.
The ceasefire proposal “includes guarantees” so that neither party returns to fighting “while negotiations continue,” and these will begin during an initial 60-day ceasefire aimed at “a permanent ceasefire and a complete and gradual withdrawal from Gaza.”
According to the New York Times, Hamas should release 10 Israeli hostages in several stages over the two months of the ceasefire, in exchange for the release of several Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
The proposal includes that Hamas must avoid holding demonstrations and ceremonies during the release of hostages, as happened last year.
Strong Israeli attacks in the last few days
The authorities in the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas, raised the number of Palestinians killed to over 57,200 on Friday due to the offensive launched by Israel since October 2023, before noting that 138 people have died as a result of Israeli attacks in the last day.
Hamas triggered the current war when it attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 Israelis and taking 250 hostages.