Hamas agrees to 60-day truce in partial response to latest Gaza proposals

Group is yet to name Palestinians it wants freed and hostage release timeline acceptable to Israel

Palestinians mourn people killed in an Israeli air strike at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city. Bloomberg

Hamas has given mediators an initial, partial response to proposals for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, but the group is expected to deliver a final reply shortly, sources told The National.

They said Hamas has unconditionally agreed to a 60-day truce during which sufficient aid will enter Gaza, chiefly through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the south of the enclave.

"Hamas has just submitted its response and that of the Palestinian factions to the ceasefire proposal to the mediators," the group said on Thursday.

Starvation deaths rise in Gaza as world decries 'man-made' crisis

Read More

Hamas has also agreed in principle to most of the maps Israel presented for the reposting of its troops in Gaza, but wants them to withdraw from Deir Al Balah in central Gaza – the site of a major military operation by Israel – as well as Khan Younis in the south, the sources said.

“Hamas is reviewing the maps with other resistance factions in Gaza,” one of the sources said. “We expect Hamas's final and full response within hours, but that can change.”

Israeli troops at the border with Gaza. AFP

The sources spoke as US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff was expected to travel to Europe on Thursday and Qatar on Friday, a sign that in the past has been interpreted to mean a deal was within reach.

However, optimism that mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the US were on the cusp of getting Israel and Hamas to agree to a deal previously proved premature, because of the intransigence of both sides.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog was upbeat on Wednesday during a visit to Gaza, telling soldiers there were “intensive negotiations” about returning the hostages held in the enclave. He said he hoped the soldiers would soon “hear good news”, according to a statement from the President's representative.

Hamas, however, is yet to provide a final list of the names of the hundreds of Palestinians it wants released from Israeli prisons as part of the agreement, the sources said.

The list will probably include high-profile Palestinians serving long jail terms who Hamas wants freed, but Israel insists on keeping them in prison, they said. The figures include Marwan Barghouti, a senior leader of the mainstream Fatah faction who is widely regarded as a possible successor to President Mahmoud Abbas.

Palestinians travel in western Jabalia after receiving aid from a distribution site in northern Gaza. AFP

Hamas was also expected to provide mediators with its final timeline for the release of 10 Israeli hostages and the remains of 18 who died in captivity, the sources said.

Hamas has previously proposed the release of the hostages in batches throughout a 60-day truce to ensure Israel's compliance with the agreement, but it appears that Israel has rejected that timeline and suggested an alternative, which Hamas is reviewing.

Hamas is believed to be holding about 50 hostages. The Israeli military believe 20 are alive.

Apart from the truce and flow of aid into Gaza, where starvation is claiming more lives, the key provisions of the latest proposals include discussions on a long-term ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from the enclave. Hamas had wanted US guarantees that these talks would continue until an agreement is reached, but the sources said Hamas appeared to have dropped that condition.

Israel insists the war will not end until Hamas's military and governing capabilities have been fully dismantled and all hostages released. It is also demanding that Hamas lays down its arms and its leaders agree to live in exile with their families.

Palestinians wait for food from a charity kitchen in Gaza city. Reuters

Hamas has rejected Israel's demand that it surrenders its weapons. Instead, it suggested it was open to talkson laying down its arms and storing them under international supervision when a long-term ceasefire is in place.

It has agreed to the exile of its leaders, provided that they and their families are not attacked by Israel.

The Gaza war was caused by a Hamas attack on southern Israeli communities, killing about 1,200 and taking another 240 hostage. Israel's response has been a devastating assault that has killed more than 59,200 Palestinians, Gaza's Health Ministry said.

Nearly all the enclave's 2.3 million residents have been displaced, more than once in many cases, and large areas of built-up land reduced to rubble.