Mediators await Israeli response to new truce offer

Mediators were awaiting an Israeli response Tuesday to a fresh Gaza ceasefire plan, a day after Hamas accepted the proposal and signalled its readiness for a new round of talks aimed at ending nearly two years of war.

The foes have held on-and-off indirect negotiations throughout the war resulting in two short truces and the releases of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, but they have ultimately failed to broker a lasting ceasefire.

The efforts have been mediated by Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, with frequent rounds of shuttle diplomacy aiming to break the deadlock.

Egypt said Monday that it and Qatar had sent the new proposal to Israel, adding “the ball is now in its court”.

According to a report in Egyptian state-linked outlet Al-Qahera, the latest deal proposes an initial 60-day truce, a partial hostage release, the freeing of some Palestinian prisoners and provisions allowing for the entry of aid.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to publicly comment on the plan, but said last week that his country would accept “an agreement in which all the hostages are released at once and according to our conditions for ending the war”.

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi said on social media that his group had “opened the door wide to the possibility of reaching an agreement, but the question remains whether Netanyahu will once again close it, as he has done in the past”.

Hamas’s acceptance of the proposal comes as Netanyahu faces increasing pressure at home and abroad to end the war.

On Sunday, tens of thousands took to the streets in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv to call for the end of the war and a deal to free the remaining hostages still being held captive.