Israel has agreed to the deal, according to the US, while Hamas said it does not meet its demands but is under discussion.
A ceasefire proposal with Israel tabled by the administration of United States President Donald Trump is “still under discussion” by Hamas, but in its current form will only result in “the continuation of killing and famine” in Gaza, an official from the Palestinian group has said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that Israel had “signed off” on the ceasefire proposal, and the Trump administration’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, had submitted it to Hamas for consideration. Hamas political bureau member Basem Naim told the Reuters news agency that the deal “does not meet any of our people’s demands, foremost among them, halting the war”.
“Nonetheless, the movement’s leadership is studying the response to the proposal with full national responsibility,” Naim added.
Hamas will respond on Friday or Saturday, a source from the Palestinian group told Reuters.
The details of the new proposal have not been made public, but senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that, crucially, it did not contain commitments from Israel to end its war on Gaza, withdraw Israeli troops from the enclave, or allow aid to freely enter the war-torn territory.
Citing a draft copy, Reuters said the proposal outlined an initial 60-day ceasefire. Twenty-eight Israeli hostages, alive and dead, would be released in the first week in exchange for the release of 1,236 Palestinian prisoners and the remains of 180 dead Palestinians.
The plan, reportedly guaranteed by President Trump and mediators Egypt and Qatar, would also see aid sent to Gaza as soon as Hamas signs.
The Israeli government has not publicly confirmed that it approved the latest proposal. food desperation: Chaoson the brink of famine: UN warns entire population at risk
Reports in Israeli media this week suggested that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the families of captives still held in Gaza that he is prepared to move forward with Witkoff’s temporary ceasefire proposal.
Akiva Eldar, an Israeli political analyst, told Al Jazeera it was “unusual” for Israel to come out and agree to a proposal first, and that Netanyahu may be betting on the plan being impossible for Hamas to accept so that he can paint them as the “bad guys” and continue the war.
“It happened before… and Netanyahu put the blame on them,” Eldar said.
Credits: Aljazeera