Hamas responds to US ceasefire proposal with offer to release 10 hostages and 18 bodies
Hamas has said it responded to a US ceasefire proposal presented to mediators, saying it would release 10 living hostages and 18 bodies in return for Israel's release of a number of Palestinian prisoners.
The Palestinian group said in a statement that under the deal, it would release 10 living hostages and 18 bodies in return for Israel's release of a number of Palestinian prisoners.
These comments in the Palestinian group's statement are in line with the proposal by US president Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Wikoff.
The Hamas statement said: 'This proposal aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire, a comprehensive withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and ensure the flow of aid to our people and our families in the Gaza Strip.'
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It said its response came 'after conducting a round of national consultations'.
The statement did not mention that it was seeking any changes to the US proposal, but a Palestinian official familiar with the talks told Reuters Hamas sought some amendments.
Israeli media reported earlier this week that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the families of hostages held in Gaza that Israel had accepted the deal presented by Mr Witkoff. The prime minister's office declined to comment at the time.
Deep differences between Hamas and Israel have stymied previous attempts to restore a ceasefire that broke down in March.
Israel has insisted that Hamas must disarm completely, be dismantled as a military and governing force and return all 58 hostages still held in Gaza before it will agree to end the war.
Hamas has rejected the demand to give up its weapons and says Israel must pull its troops out of Gaza and commit to ending the war.
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas attack in its south on October 7th, 2023, which killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 Israelis taken hostage into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
The subsequent Israeli military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, Gaza health officials say, and has left the enclave in ruins.
Meanwhile, armed men hijacked dozens of aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip overnight, while hundreds of desperate Palestinians joined in to take supplies, local aid groups said on Saturday.
The incident was the latest in a series that has underscored the shaky security situation hindering the delivery of aid into Gaza, following the easing of a weeks-long Israeli blockade earlier this month.
The White House proposals include a 60-day truce and the exchange of 28 of the 58 hostages still held in Gaza for more than 1,200 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, along with the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.
On Saturday, the Israeli military, which relaunched its air and ground campaign in March following a two-month truce, said it was continuing to hit targets in Gaza, including sniper posts, and had killed what it said was the head of a Hamas weapons manufacturing site.
The campaign has cleared large areas along the boundaries of the Gaza Strip, squeezing the population of more than two million into an ever-narrower section along the coast and around the southern city of Khan Younis.
Israel imposed a blockade on all supplies entering the enclave at the beginning of March in an effort to weaken Hamas and has found itself under increasing pressure from an international community shocked by the increasingly desperate humanitarian situation the blockade has created.
The United Nations said on Friday the situation in Gaza is the worst since the start of the war 19 months ago, with the entire population facing the risk of famine despite a resumption of limited aid deliveries earlier this month.
Israel has been allowing a limited number of trucks from the World Food Programme and other international groups to bring flour to bakeries in Gaza but deliveries have been hampered by repeated incidents of looting.
At the same time, a separate system, run by a US-backed group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), has been delivering meals and food packages at three designated distribution sites. However, aid groups have refused to co-operate with the GHF, which they say is not neutral, and say the amount of aid allowed in falls far short of the needs of a population at risk of famine.
- Reuters
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025
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