By Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO (Reuters) – Hamas said it received Israel’s official response to its latest ceasefire proposal on Saturday and would study it before submitting its response, the group’s deputy leader told Gaza in a statement.
“Hamas received today the official response from the Zionist occupation to the proposal presented to the Egyptian and Qatari mediators on April 13,” Khalil Al-Hayya, currently based in Qatar, said in a statement released by the group.
After more than six months of war with Israel in Gaza, negotiations remain deadlocked, with Hamas persisting in demanding that any agreement end the war.
An Egyptian delegation visited Israel for talks with Israeli officials on Friday, seeking a way to restart negotiations to end the conflict and return remaining hostages captured when Hamas fighters stormed into Israeli cities on October 7 , said an official briefed on the meetings.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Israel had no new proposals to make, although it was willing to consider a limited truce in which 33 hostages would be released by Hamas, instead of the 40 previously discussed.
On Thursday, the United States and 17 other countries called on Hamas to release all of its hostages to end the crisis.
Hamas has pledged not to give in to international pressure, but in a statement released Friday it said it was “open to any idea or proposal that takes into account the needs and rights of our people.”
However, he stuck to his main demands which Israel rejected and criticized the joint statement issued by the United States and others for failing to call for a permanent ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli forces in Gaza.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday he sees new momentum in negotiations aimed at ending the war and returning remaining hostages.
Citing two Israeli officials, Axios reported that Israel told Egyptian mediators on Friday that it was prepared to give hostage negotiations “one last chance” to reach an agreement with Hamas before proceeding with the invasion of Rafah, the last refuge of around a million people. Palestinians who fled Israeli forces further north, in Gaza, earlier in the war.
Meanwhile, in Rafah, Palestinian health officials said an Israeli airstrike on a house killed at least five people and injured others.
Hamas fighters stormed Israeli towns on October 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing 253 hostages. Israel vowed to wipe out Hamas in an attack that killed more than 34,000 Palestinians.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; writing by Ahmed Tolba and Nidal al-Mughrabi; editing by Sandra Maler and Rosalba O’Brien)
