Israel is analyzing Hamas’ response to a proposal that would include a deal for the release of hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza, according to a statement from Israel’s spy agency, Mossad.
“The mediators gave the negotiating team Hamas’ response to the draft hostage agreement. Israel is examining the response and will respond to the mediators,” said a statement issued by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on behalf of Mossad.
A source in Hamas, the Islamist militant group that rules Gaza, said it had “exchanged some ideas with the mediating brothers” with a view to stopping the war, but gave no further details.
For months, mediators including Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to reach a ceasefire agreement and release 120 hostages still in Gaza, but their efforts have stalled.
Hamas says any deal must end the war and lead to a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel says it will accept only temporary pauses in the fighting until Hamas is eradicated.
Almost nine months of war
The war in Gaza began when Hamas gunmen invaded southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed nearly 38,000 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and left the enclave in ruins.
The ceasefire plan on the table, released at the end of May by US President Joe Biden, provides for the gradual release of Israeli hostages in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli forces in two phases.
It also provides for the release of Palestinian prisoners, with the reconstruction of Gaza and the return of the bodies of dead hostages in a third phase.
Source: CNN Brasil
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