Palestinian group Hamas says it has received Israel’s official response to its latest proposal about a possible ceasefire in Gaza and will study the document before submitting a reply.
“Hamas has received today the official response of the Zionist occupation to the proposal presented to the Egyptian and the Qatari mediators on April 13,” deputy Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya said in a statement published by the group on Saturday.
After more than six months of Israel’s brutal war on the Gaza Strip, negotiations to bring about a ceasefire remain deadlocked, with Hamas sticking to its demands that any agreement with Israel must bring an end to Israel’s war on the Palestinian enclave.
An Egyptian delegation visited Israel for discussion with Israeli officials on Friday, looking for a way to restart talks to end the conflict and return remaining captives held in Gaza following the October 7 attacks on southern Israel, an official briefed on the meetings told the French news agency AFP.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said Israel had no new proposals to make, although it was willing to consider a limited truce in which 33 captives would be released by Hamas, instead of the 40 previously under discussion. On Thursday, the United States and 17 other countries appealed to Hamas to release all of its captives as a pathway to end the war.
In a statement issued on Friday, Hamas said it was “open to any ideas or proposals that take into account the needs and rights of our people”.
However, the group stuck to its key demand that Israel end its war on Gaza and criticised the joint statement issued by the US and others for not calling for a permanent ceasefire, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
Renewed momentum for talks
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Friday he saw renewed momentum in talks to end the war and return captives.
Citing two Israeli officials, Axios reported that Israel told Egyptian mediators that it was ready to give negotiations on the release of captives “one last chance”, before moving forward with a ground invasion of Rafah, the last refuge for about a million Palestinians who fled attacks by Israeli forces further north in Gaza earlier in the war.
The war in Gaza was also on the agenda for an international summit set to kick off in Saudi Arabia over the weekend.
The World Economic Forum special meeting, scheduled to begin in Riyadh on Sunday, will include a Gaza-focused session on Monday set to feature newly appointed Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Sigrid Kaag, the United Nations aid coordinator for the Gaza Strip.
