Hamas says it has given a "positive response" to a proposal for a Gaza ceasefire with Israel, four months after their last truce collapsed.
Gaza's ruling militants said they were ready for a further round of talks on how to "implement this framework". The US, Egypt and Qatar have proposed a 60-day ceasefire during which some Israeli hostages would be released.
A Hamas statement late on Friday said the group had "delivered the response to the mediators, which was positive". US President Donald Trump had called it a "final proposal" and said he expected Hamas to answer within 24 hours.
When told about the Hamas reponse by reporters aboard Air Force One, Mr Trump replied: "That's good. They haven't briefed me on it. We have to get it over with. We have to do something about Gaza."
He said there "could be a Gaza deal" next week and that he was optimistic, although the situation "changes day to day".
Mr Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had accepted the conditions needed to finalise a 60-day truce, during which the parties would work to end the conflict. It is hoped a pause in fighting would allow supplies of food and medicine to start flooding into Gaza.
The response by Hamas appeared not to signal an immediate end to hostilities though. The group is seeking assurances from mediators that some additional demands will be met, sources told The National on Friday.
The sources said Hamas would convey its acceptance of the proposed deal along with a request for assurances from US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators about the implementation of some of its “unpublicised” clauses.
These include the return by Israel of the bodies of some of the group's leaders killed during the Gaza war, including Yahya Sinwar and his brother Mohammed.
They also cover the laying down and storing of the group's arms and the guaranteed return to Gaza of wounded Palestinians, who will be allowed under the deal to leave the strip for treatment abroad, the sources said.
The clauses also include the creation of a 1km-deep safe zone on the Palestinian side of the entire Gaza-Israel border, which will be free of human habitation or any economic activity, including farming.
According to these clauses, an unnamed Arab nation will supervise the storage of Hamas's weapons, and Israel will be prevented from excluding any area of Gaza from the distribution of badly needed humanitarian resistance.
According to a two-page draft text obtained by The National on Friday, the proposed truce will last 60 days, during which Hamas will hand over in stages 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others who died in captivity. This handover will start on the first day of the truce and end on the final day, according to the text.
In return, Israel will release more than 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, including scores serving long terms.
On the 10th day of the truce, Hamas is expected to provide “comprehensive information” on the remaining hostages. In return, Israel will provide information on Palestinians it has detained since October 7, 2023, the day the Gaza war began with an attack on southern Israel communities by Hamas and its allies.
“The [US] President is serious about the commitment of the parties to the ceasefire and insists that negotiations begin during the temporary ceasefire,” the draft text reads. “If successful, the negotiations will lead to a lasting resolution of the conflict.”
The deal also provides for the flow of sufficient humanitarian assistance into Gaza, distributed by groups to be agreed upon, including the UN and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
It also provides for the two-stage deployment of Israeli forces away from proposed aid delivery routes in the south and north of Gaza, on the first and fifth day of the truce, following the release of eight living hostages and the remains of five others, respectively.
Negotiations on a permanent ceasefire and the release of the rest of the hostages will begin on the first day of the truce, according to the text. Final "redeployment" of Israeli forces in Gaza will be part of the negotiations.
The mediators will ensure that the negotiations are serious and will be extended past the 60-day truce period if they do not produce a deal by then.
“The President will personally make the announcement of the ceasefire. The United States and President Trump are committed to working towards guaranteeing the continuation of the negotiations in goodwill until a final agreement is reached,” the text states.
Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and took about 240 hostage during their attack on southern Israel. About 50 hostages are still being held in Gaza, with fewer than half of them thought to be alive.
The Hamas attack prompted a devastating military assault by Israel that has so far killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in Gaza. The war has displaced the majority of the enclave's estimated two million population, with many having to flee more than once, and destroyed swathes of built-up areas.
Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the US have been trying in vain since March to broker a deal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages.
