Hamas agrees to new Gaza ceasefire proposal

Gaza City: A Hamas source told AFP on Monday that the Palestinian group had agreed to a new proposal from mediators for a ceasefire in Gaza, devastated by more than 22 months of war.

“Hamas has delivered its response to the mediators, confirming that Hamas and the factions agreed to the new ceasefire proposal without requesting any amendments,” the Hamas source told AFP, requesting anonymity.

A Palestinian source familiar with the negotiations told AFP that mediators were “expected to announce that an agreement has been reached and set a date for the resumption of talks.”

The source added that “mediators provided Hamas and the factions with guarantees for the implementation of the agreement, along with a commitment to resume talks to seek a permanent solution.”

There has been no immediate response from the Israeli government side to the development.

Efforts by mediators Egypt and Qatar, along with the United States, have so far failed to secure a lasting ceasefire in the war, now in its 23rd month, which has created a dire humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

A separate Palestinian official earlier on Monday told AFP that mediators had proposed an initial 60-day truce and hostage release in two batches.

A source from Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant faction that has fought alongside Hamas in Gaza, told AFP that the plan involved a 60-day ceasefire “during which 10 Israeli hostages would be released alive, along with a number of bodies”.

According to the same source, “the remaining captives would be released in a second phase, with immediate negotiations to follow for a broader deal” for a permanent end to the war “with international guarantees”, the source added.

Out of 251 hostages taken during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, 49 are still held in Gaza including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

Hamas’s attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 62,004 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.