Hamas to release 10 alive hostages in response to U.S. cease-fire plan
May 31 (UPI) -- Militant Hamas said Saturday it would release 10 living hostages and 18 bodies in return for Israel's release of Palestinian prisoners and ending the war that began in October 2023.
Steve Witkoff, who is President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, on Thursday submitted his proposal to mediators from Qatar and Egypt.
"As part of this agreement, 10 living Israeli prisoners held by the resistance will be released, in addition to the return of eighteen bodies, in exchange for an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners," Hamas said in a statement obtained by CNN.
The group said it came to the decision "after conducting a round of national consultations."
"This proposal aims to achieve a permanent cease-fire, a comprehensive withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and ensure the flow of aid to our people and our families in the Gaza Strip," Hamas said in a statement also obtained by The Guardian.
The Hamas response is similar to an earlier proposal to release 10 hostages, as well as a number of hostages' remains during the cease-fire in exchange for 1,100 Palestinian prisoners.
An unidentified Israeli official told Israeli reporters in Saturday that they are treating Hamas' response as an "effective rejection."
Fifty-eight hostages are believed to still be alive. A total of 146 Israeli hostages have been freed or rescued from Gaza, including 25 during the truce.
The U.S. proposal called for a 60-day pause in fighting and renewed efforts toward long-term peace, as well as guarantees from Israel that it will not resume its offensive after Hamas releases hostages.
Negotiations toward a permanent ceasefire would begin immediately on the first day of the 60-day truce, according to the proposal.
Israeli negotiators accepted the deal, but Hamas has not backed it.
On Thursday, Hamas official Basem Naim said the U.S. proposal "does not respond to any of our people's demands," including lifting the humanitarian blockade on the Gaza Strip that has led to famine-like conditions among 2 million.
Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz on Friday threatened Hamas if it did not accept.
"The Hamas murderers will now be forced to choose: accept the terms of the 'Witkoff deal' for the release of the hostages -- or be annihilated," Katz said.
A cease-fire lasted from Jan. 19 to March 1.
Israel refused to move to a planned second phase that could have led to a permanent end to the war. Israel began fighting, including airstrikes.
In a ramped-up offensive, at least 60 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza over the last 24 hours, Hamas-run health officials said. And 72 were killed on Thursday.
Negotiators have made little progress.
"Negotiations are ongoing on the current proposal," Qatar's ambassador to the United Nations, Ayla Ahmed Saif al-Thani said Friday. He noted the mediators from Qatar are "very determined to find an ending to the horrific situation in Gaza."
For three months, Israel's blockade has stopped virtually all humanitarian aid into Gaza.
"After nearly 80 days of a total blockade, communities are starving - and they are no longer willing to watch food pass them by," the World Food Program said on Saturday.
The United Nations aid agency was allowed to bring 77 trucks loaded with flour into Gaza overnight, but the trucks were stopped by crowds of hungry people.
Lindsey Hutchison of Plan International said "having the military control aid and choose who they distribute it to in limited ways completely violates the way humanitarian operations are supposed to be conducted."
She said the situation is not working.
"We saw chaos and despair at the distribution site, which is frankly masquerading as a humanitarian aid scheme. That's not what this is," she told Al Jazeera from New York.
More than 54,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began Oct. 7, 2023. Israel retaliated for a Hamas attack on the same da in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage.
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