Hamas accepts Gaza ceasefire proposal with US assurances over talks to end war

The militant group says it’s ready to immediately enter negotiations on the mechanism for implementing the deal.

Palestinians inspect the damage after an Israeli strike in the Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip on Friday. Picture: AFP

Hamas accepted the framework of a proposed new 60-day ceasefire and hostage-release deal in Gaza that, if concluded, would immediately trigger U.S.-backed negotiations between the militants and Israel aimed at a permanent end to the war, Arab officials involved in the talks said.

The terms of the new proposal, put together by US special envoy Steve Witkoff along with mediators from Egypt and Qatar, also call for, among other things, the exchange of 10 living hostages for a larger number of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, the officials said.

Hamas late on Friday said it has submitted its response to the mediators and is “fully ready and serious to immediately enter a round of negotiations on the mechanism for implementing this framework.” While the two sides need to work through a number of details before any deal is signed, their agreement to the basic terms represents the best hope for pausing more than three months of heavy Israeli military action and a deep cutback of humanitarian supplies including food.

A banner, referring to the hostages being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, is displayed on the beach as people sunbathe in Tel Aviv. Picture: AP /Oded Balilty

Negotiations between Israel and Hamas have been stuck for months over Hamas’s demand that any deal ultimately lead to an end to the war, something Israel has refused to commit to.

Attention has shifted back to that conflict after Israel’s lopsided battering of Iran’s nuclear program and military leadership ended with a ceasefire brokered by President Trump.

Trump pushed for a ceasefire in Gaza last week and said earlier this week that Israel had agreed to the necessary conditions for a deal. “I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this deal because it will not get better — it will only get worse,” Trump said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet Trump in Washington on Monday.

The progress comes as Hamas faces growing pressure in Gaza from ordinary Palestinians who have had enough of the hunger and ever-present threat of air strikes from Israeli forces. Hamas sparked the war by leading October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. Around 1,200 people were killed and about 250 kidnapped.

Men ride a motorcycle next to a billboard bearing the portraits of Israeli hostages, held in the Gaza Strip since the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas. Picture: AFP

The militant group now finds itself increasingly isolated, with its Lebanese ally Hezbollah and patron Iran battered by Israeli attacks. Most of Hamas’s military leaders in Gaza have been killed by Israeli forces. The group is now on its third leader in eight months.

Aside from the assurances around talks to end the war, the proposal under consideration is similar to ones that have been on the table for months, according to a copy seen by The Wall Street Journal and said to be authentic by a person familiar with the proposal.

It calls for Hamas to release 10 of the around 20 hostages Israel believes are still alive, along with the bodies of some of the roughly 30 deceased hostages. Hamas would release eight living hostages on the first day of the deal and two on Day 50, the proposal says.

In return, Israel would release a large number of Palestinians it is holding and commit to a 60-day ceasefire. During this period, Israeli forces would gradually withdraw from agreed upon areas in the enclave.

Palestinian men carry the body of a person reportedly killed while waiting for aid delivery, during a funeral procession outside al-Shifa hospital on Thursday. Picture: AFP

The fresh push for a Gaza deal comes after several previous efforts failed. Israel and Hamas most recently paused their fighting for two months beginning in January, but Israel never entered talks to end the war and went back to fighting after the negotiations stalled.

“The guarantors and mediators — the United States, Egypt, and Qatar — will ensure that the ceasefire will continue for a period of 60 days and will ensure that serious discussions will be held on the necessary arrangements for a permanent ceasefire,” the latest proposal says.

A spokesman for Witkoff declined to comment. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The proposal also stipulates that President Trump will officially announce a deal, according to the version reviewed by the Journal.

A Palestinian man carries a wounded child after an Israeli strike on a residential building in Gaza City on June 27. Picture: AP /Jehad Alshrafi

Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin said Thursday the military would soon complete the current phase of its operation in Gaza. Hamas is in a weakened position in Gaza after the elimination of much of its leadership, Defrin said.

Analysts say Israel’s fast victory in its campaign against Iran’s nuclear program has given Netanyahu political room to cut a deal. Israel is also facing diplomatic pressure from allies to end the fighting in Gaza and ease the humanitarian crisis there.

Under the proposal, larger quantities of humanitarian aid are to enter the Gaza Strip, although it was still unclear how it would be distributed.

In Israel, families of the hostages have been taking to the streets for months, calling for an end to the war and a deal to bring home their relatives. On the 10th day of the ceasefire, Hamas will exchange medical reports on the unreleased hostages for information on Gazans arrested by Israel since Oct. 7, 2023.

The two sides now need to finalise next steps, including Israel submitting the list of names of hostages it wants released, an agreement on the identity and number of Palestinian prisoners to be freed in exchange, and the amount of aid that will enter Gaza.

The Wall Street Journal