Gaza is in much need of a ceasefire, as Israel stepped up its attacks on the territory in recent weeks [Getty/file photo]
Hamas has agreed to a Gaza ceasefire proposal it received two days ago from mediators Egypt and Qatar, the Palestinian group’s chief said on Saturday.
“Two days ago, we received a proposal from the mediators in Egypt and Qatar. We dealt with it positively and accepted it,” Khalil al-Hayya said in a televised speech.
“We hope that the (Israeli) occupation will not undermine (it),” said Hayya, who leads the Hamas negotiating team in indirect talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in Israel’s war in Gaza that erupted in October 2023.
Security sources told Reuters on Thursday that Egypt had received positive indications from Israel over a new ceasefire proposal that would include a transitional phase.
The proposal suggests Hamas release five of the Israeli captives it is holding each week, the sources said.
The Israeli prime minister’s office said it had held a series of consultations according to the proposal that was received from the mediators, and that Israel had conveyed to the mediators a counter-proposal in full coordination with the United States.
Reuters asked the prime minister’s office if it had also agreed to the ceasefire proposal but it did not immediately respond.
Phased ceasefire
The first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into force on 19 January after 15 months of a brutal military onslaught and involved a halt to fighting, the release of some of the Israeli captives and the freeing of some Palestinian prisoners.
Phase two of the three-phase deal is intended to focus on agreements on the release of the remaining captives and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Hamas says any proposals must allow the launch of the second phase, which Israel has refused continuously. It has, however, sought to expand the first 42-day phase instead.
In response to calls on Hamas to disarm by Israel and the United States, Hayya said the group’s arsenal was a red line and that it would not disarm as long as the Israeli occupation exists.
Israel and the US say Hamas must not have a role in post-war Gaza arrangements.
Israeli military strikes on Gaza continued on Saturday, killing at least 20 Palestinians across the enclave, health authorities said.
The Israeli military said it had begun “ground activity” in the Jneina neighbourhood of the Rafah area to expand what it described as the security zone in southern Gaza.
On 18 March, Israel resumed bombing and ground operations in Gaza, effectively ending the ceasefire. More than 830 people have been killed since.
It has since issued evacuation orders to tens of thousands of residents in several areas in the northern and southern Gaza Strip.
More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli onslaught in Gaza, Palestinian officials say.
