The Palestinian militant group Hamas says it supports a new ceasefire plan for Gaza that would see five more hostages released to Israel in exchange for a 50-day truce.
Khalil al-Hayyam, the most senior Hamas leader outside Gaza, said the group had approved the draft deal sent by Egyptian and Qatari mediators.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it had also received the plan and submitted a counter-proposal in response.
If agreed, the new limited ceasefire agreement could coincide with the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.
The discussions come as Israeli forces continue air strikes across Gaza and conduct a ground operation in Rafah after a ceasefire that was agreed in January broke down earlier this month.
During the first phase of that deal, Hamas released 33 hostages. The group is thought to be still holding 59, although not all are said to be alive.
Hamas had previously insisted on sticking to the original deal – with negotiations to start on a second phase that would see the release of all the remaining hostages, in return for a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces in Gaza and an end to the war. But those negotiations never started.
Israel and the US had instead proposed that the first phase of the ceasefire – which expired a month ago – should be extended, with no clear guarantee that the war would end.
Israel accused Hamas of rejecting the extension and resumed its military offensive in Gaza on 18 March.
Israel has since launched air strikes which have killed more than 900 people in Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry has said.
Netanyahu’s office said the Israeli counter-offer to the latest ceasefire plan had been agreed with the US, but it has provided no details so far.
All this comes as Israeli forces have continued airstrikes across Gaza – and a ground operation in the southern city of Rafah, which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say is aimed at expanding its security zone around the south of Gaza.
Meanwhile, protesters in Israel have accused Netanyahu and his government of putting the lives of the remaining hostages in danger by breaking the ceasefire.
One of those hostages, Elkana Bohbot, has again been shown in distress in a new video posted by Hamas in which he begs for his release.
The war was triggered when Hamas attacked on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 back to Gaza as captives.
Israel responded with a massive military offensive, which killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says.
