Hamas has agreed to US special envoy Steve Witkoff's proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, a Palestinian official close to the group told Reuters. This could pave the way for an end to the war in the Middle East, the news agency said.
What does the proposal entail?
The new US proposal was delivered to Hamas by mediators. It includes the release in two groups of ten live Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip. In return, Israel must agree to a 70-day ceasefire and partially withdraw from the Gaza Strip, the source said.
The proposal also calls for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including those serving long sentences in Israeli prisons. Israel has not commented on the proposal so far. However, earlier reports emerged that Tel Aviv rejected it.
This would not be the first truce
After a two-month ceasefire in mid-March, Israel resumed its attacks on the Gaza Strip and recently intensified its operations further. Tens of thousands of reservists were called up. The war in Gaza was triggered by the terrorist attack on Israel by the radical Islamist group Hamas on October 7, 2023, in which, according to Israeli data, about 1,200 people died. 251 people were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.