Hamas says it submitted ‘positive’ response to mediators on Gaza ceasefire proposal
Palestine resistance group ‘seriously ready to immediately enter a round of negotiations on the mechanism to implement this framework’
GAZA CITY, Palestine/ISTANBUL
Palestinian resistance group Hamas said Friday it submitted a "positive" response to mediators on a new proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and prisoner exchange.
"We have completed our internal consultations and with Palestinian factions and forces regarding the mediators' latest proposal to halt the aggression against our people in Gaza,” it said in a statement.
Hamas “delivered the response to the mediators, which was positive,” it added.
The group stressed that it is “seriously ready to immediately enter a round of negotiations on the mechanism to implement this framework.”
The statement did not indicate details of the proposal, but Israeli and American media reported that the main provisions include Hamas releasing half of the living Israeli hostages, 10, in addition to the bodies of 18 prisoners in five phases during a 60-day ceasefire.
Israel would, in return, release a large number of Palestinian prisoners it holds and gradually withdraw forces from agreed-upon areas inside Gaza -- a point that could cause division in Tel Aviv, which demands the disarmament of the Palestinian group and the exile of its leadership abroad.
Tel Aviv estimates that there are 50 Israeli hostages in Gaza, including 20 alive, while more than 10,400 Palestinians are being held in its prisons, suffering torture, starvation and medical neglect that have led to the deaths of many, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.
Israeli Channel 12, meanwhile, quoted an unnamed Israeli source who said, “If Hamas agrees to the proposal, it is expected that an Israeli delegation will travel to Doha to finalize the deal.”
The source added: “This will not take more than a day and a half.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to travel to Washington to meet US President Donald Trump, according to reports.
Despite international calls for a ceasefire, Israel has pursued a genocidal war on Gaza, killing more than 57,200 Palestinians, most of them women and children, since October 2023.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
