Hamas has agreed to a ceasefire proposal in Gaza that was handed to it two days ago by mediators from Egypt and Qatar, the head of the Palestinian militant organization said on Saturday.
“We received an offer from Egyptian and Qatari mediators two days ago. We took it positively and agreed,” Khalil al-Haya said in a television interview.
“We hope that the (Israeli) occupation will not prevent this,” added Haya, who leads the Hamas negotiating delegation in indirect talks aimed at achieving a ceasefire in the Hamas-Israel conflict in Gaza that broke out in October 2023.
Secure sources told Reuters on Thursday that Egypt had received positive signals from Israel regarding a new ceasefire proposal that would include a transition period.
The proposal would require Hamas to release five Israeli hostages every week, the sources said.
The Israeli prime minister's office said it had held a series of consultations on the proposal received from the mediators and that Israel had sent the mediators a counter-proposal in full agreement with the United States.
Reuters asked the prime minister's office if they had agreed to the ceasefire proposal, but there was no response.
The first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was declared on January 19 after 15 months of conflict and included a cessation of hostilities, the release of some Israeli hostages held by Hamas and the release of some Palestinian prisoners.
The second phase of the three-stage deal aims to reach agreements on the release of the remaining hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Hamas says any proposal must allow the second phase to begin, while Israel has offered to extend the first 42-day phase.
In response to Israeli and US calls for Hamas to disarm, Haya noted that the group's arsenal is banned and that it will not disarm as long as the “Israeli” occupation exists.
Israel and the US argue that Hamas should have no role in the post-war settlement of Gaza.
Israeli military strikes on the Gaza Strip continued on Saturday, killing at least 20 Palestinians across the enclave, according to medical authorities.
The Israeli military said it had launched a “ground operation” in the Jneina area of Rafah in an effort to expand the so-called security zone in southern Gaza.
On March 18, Israel resumed bombing and ground operations in the Gaza Strip, saying they were aimed at increasing pressure on Hamas to release the hostages.
Since then, authorities have ordered the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents in several areas of the northern and southern Gaza Strip, citing rocket fire from Israeli territory.
More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian officials.
Israel launched its operation after thousands of Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israeli settlements on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage, according to Israeli officials.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
