Israel receives Hamas’ response to ceasefire proposal, details being discussed: Israeli media

Israel has received Hamas’ response to a new ceasefire proposal for the Gaza Strip, with discussions now underway about the details, Anadolu reports.

Israeli Channel 12 cited an anonymous source saying that mediators delivered to Israel the positive reaction of the Palestinian group on the new ceasefire proposal.

“We have completed our internal consultations with Palestinian factions and forces regarding the mediators’ latest proposal to halt the aggression against our people in Gaza,” Hamas said earlier on Friday.

The source said that an Israeli delegation is expected to travel to Doha for negotiations on the implementation of the proposal, without giving a specific timeline.

Channel 12 has previously reported from a source that the negotiations in the Qatari capital “will not take more than a day and a half.”

Egypt, for its part, began conducting intensive contacts with various parties to resume indirect negotiations and to reach a final formula that is agreed upon by all parties, Egypt’s Al-Qahera el-Ekhbariya channel reported.

According to Israel’s public broadcaster KAN, Hamas insists on the three main demands – a return to the previous aid distribution mechanism, extending the ceasefire after the proposed 60-day period, and an actual withdrawal of the Israeli army forces from the Gaza Strip.

Reports from Israel indicate that the main challenge before the continuity of the talks will be the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the enclave, the Israeli Hayom newspaper reported.

READ: Hamas says it submitted ‘positive’ response to mediators on Gaza ceasefire proposal

The newspaper said that Israel seeks to maintain a presence on the Morag Axis, which separates Rafah from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, while Hamas demands a complete withdrawal.

Yedioth Ahronoth daily, citing unnamed Israeli officials, reported that US President Donald Trump may announce a ceasefire agreement in Gaza during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next Monday.

Netanyahu is scheduled to travel to Washington to meet Trump, according to reports.

Hamas did not indicate details of the proposal in the statement, but Israeli and American media reported that the main provisions include Hamas releasing half of the living Israeli hostages, 10, in addition to the bodies of 18 prisoners in five phases during a 60-day ceasefire.

Israel would, in return, release a large number of Palestinian prisoners it holds and gradually withdraw forces from agreed-upon areas inside Gaza — a point that could cause division in Tel Aviv, which demands the disarmament of the Palestinian group and the exile of its leadership abroad.

Tel Aviv estimates that there are 20 Israeli hostages in Gaza, while more than 10,400 Palestinians are being held in its prisons, suffering torture, starvation and medical neglect that have led to the deaths of many, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.

Despite international calls for a ceasefire, Israel has pursued a genocidal war on Gaza, killing more than 57,200 Palestinians, most of them women and children, since October 2023.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

READ: Israeli army claims to hold ‘operational control’ of 65% of Gaza amid genocidal war