What is Witkoff's proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal?

US says Israel has accepted plan

The war in Gaza has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians since 2024 and efforts are under way to secure a ceasefire. AP

Hamas is studying a ceasefire plan presented by US special envoy Steve Witkoff, which Washington says Israel has already agreed to.

Standing beside President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, Mr Witkoff said he was optimistic that the terms would lead to a resolution.

“We are on the precipice of sending out a new term sheet that hopefully will be delivered later on today,” he said.

What does this proposal for a truce and the release of hostages entail?

Hostage-detainee swap

Sources familiar with the talks have told The National that the plan provides for a 60-day truce and the staggered release of 10 hostages.

Under the proposal, Hamas would release five hostages during the first week of the truce and another five towards the end of the 60 days. The 10 hostages would be freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails, but a precise number has yet to be decided, the sources said.

According to Israeli media, the bodies of 18 hostages will also be returned.

Humanitarian aid

If Hamas accepts the agreement, deliveries of aid into Gaza will intensify. The aid distribution mechanism agreed on will remain in place over the course of the 60-day truce.

The resumption of humanitarian aid would involve 1,000 lorries a day, a large number intended to quickly address the widespread hunger and acute shortages of medicine and other essentials among Gaza's 2.3 million residents, said the sources.

A distribution plan set out by UN experts for its personnel and members of affiliated agencies to jointly put into effect has been handed to Israeli authorities.

Post-war Gaza

Besides a long-term ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the negotiations proposed to take place during the truce will tackle a range of sensitive issues, including the governing of postwar Gaza, the fate of Hamas's weapons and the exile abroad of its senior officials, said the sources.

Hamas has already suggested it would keep away from governing Gaza and any reconstruction effort and has said it is open to laying down and storing its weapons under international supervision, but not surrendering them.

It has also indicated that it will agree to some of its senior officials, as well as some from allied groups such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, leaving Gaza to live in exile – provided they are not attacked later by Israel.