Hamas accepts new ceasefire deal as Israeli occupation of Gaza City looms

Independent

20 hours ago

Hamas has said it has accepted a new proposal from Arab mediators for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, as the threat of Israeli occupation looms.
The deal would include a 60 day truce and the release of half of the remaining hostages taken by the terror group on 7 October, 2023. A source close to the talks told Reuters that, unlike previous rounds, Hamas accepted the proposal with no further demands.
Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to convene discussions about the ceasefire proposal soon, Israeli officials said. He faces pressure from his far-right government partners who object to a truce with Hamas, but also mounting protests from Israelis to bring an end to the war.
It comes as Gaza's Health Ministry says the Palestinian death toll from 22 months of war has passed 62,000.
Israel announced plans to reoccupy Gaza City and other heavily populated areas after ceasefire talks appeared to break down in July, raising the possibility of a worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which experts say is sliding into famine.
Plans to expand the offensive, in part aimed at pressuring Hamas, have sparked international outrage and infuriated many Israelis who fear for the remaining hostages taken in the 7 October 2023 attack that started the war.
Hundreds of thousands took part in mass protests on Sunday calling for their return.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, meanwhile, said mediators are "exerting extensive efforts" to revive a U.S. proposal for a 60-day ceasefire, during which some of the remaining 50 hostages would be released and the sides would negotiate a lasting ceasefire and the return of the rest. Mr Abdelatty said they are inviting US envoy Steve Witkoff to join the ceasefire talks.
Mr Abdelatty spoke to journalists during a visit to Egypt's Rafah crossing with Gaza, which has not functioned since Israel seized the Palestinian side in May 2024. He was accompanied by Mohammad Mustafa, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, which has been largely sidelined since the war began.
Mr Abdelatty said Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani had joined the talks, which include senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, who arrived in Cairo last week. Mr Abdelatty said they are open to other ideas, including for a comprehensive deal that would release all the hostages at once.
Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official, said that the militant group had accepted the proposal introduced by the mediators, without elaborating.
An Egyptian official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the talks, said the proposal includes changes to Israel's pullback of its forces and guarantees for negotiations on a lasting ceasefire during the initial truce.
The official said it is almost identical to an earlier proposal accepted by Israel, which has not yet joined the latest talks.
Diaa Rashwan, head of the Egypt State Information Service, said that Egypt and Qatar have sent the Hamas-accepted proposal to Israel.
An Israeli official said Israel's positions, including on the release of all hostages, had not changed from previous rounds of talks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media.
Mr Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas has been disarmed, and to maintain lasting security control over Gaza. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. The prime minister said in a video addressing the Israeli public that reports of Hamas' acceptance of the proposal showed that it is "under massive pressure".
And US President Donald Trump appeared to cast doubt on the long-running negotiations that Washington has mediated.
"We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!! The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be," he posted on social media.
Hamas-led militants abducted 251 people and killed around 1,200, mostly civilians, in the attack that ignited the war.
Around 20 of the hostages still in Gaza are believed by Israel to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals.
Gaza's Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll from the war had climbed to 62,004, with another 156,230 people wounded. It does not say how many were civilians or combatants, but says women and children make up around half the dead.
The ministry said 1,965 people have been killed while seeking humanitarian aid since May, either in the chaos around U.N. convoys or while heading to sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed American contractor.
The UN World Food Program said on Monday that UN partner organisations reported that community kitchens in north and south Gaza produced 380,000 daily meals daily last week — far fewer than the more than 1 million daily meals they produced in April.