A proposal to cease-fire with Israel tabled by the administration of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, is “still under discussion” by Hamas, but in its current form will not result in “the continuation of murder and famine” in Gaza, said a official of the Palestinian group.
The press secretary of the White House, Karoline Leavitt, said on Thursday that Israel had “signed” on the cease-fire proposal, and the Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, had submitted to Hamas for examination.
The member of the Hamas political bureau, Basem Naim, told the reuters news agency that the agreement “did not respond to any of the requests of our people, above all, interrupting the war”.
“Nevertheless, the leadership of the movement studies the response to the proposal with a complete national responsibility,” added Naim.
Hamas will respond on Friday or Saturday, a source from the Palestinian group told Reuters.
The details of the new proposal were not made public, but the senior manager of Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, told Reuters that, above all, he did not contain commitments from Israel to end his war against Gaza, withdraw Israeli troops from the enclave or allow the help to enter the territory torn by war.
Citing a copy project, Reuters said that the proposal described an initial 60-day cease-fire. Twenty-eight Israeli hostages, living and dead, would be published in the first week in exchange for the release of 1,236 Palestinian prisoners and the remains of 180 Palestinians who died.
The plan, which would have been guaranteed by President Trump and the mediators of Egypt and Qatar, would also see the aid sent to Gaza as soon as Hamas signs.
The Israeli government has not publicly confirmed that it had approved the last proposal.
Reports in the Israeli media this week suggested that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told families still detained in Gaza that he was ready to move forward with the proposal for a temporary ceasefire of Witkoff.
Akiva Eldar, Israeli political analyst, told Tel Aviv Tribune that he was “unusual” for Israel to release and accept a proposal first, and that Netanyahu bets on the impossible level for Hamas to accept so that he can paint them as “bad” and continue the war.
“It happened before … and Netanyahu blamed them,” said Eldar.
Contradictory reports
Attempts to restore a ceasefire in Gaza were highlighted by deep differences in the conditions for implementing the conflict, including the request for Israel that Hamas is completely disarmed and the request of the Palestinian group that Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza.
The reports of this last proposal follow contradictory reports earlier this week, when Hamas said it had reached an understanding of a “general framework” of ceasefire with Witkoff and was only waiting for “final response”.
“We have reached an agreement on a general framework with Witkoff which provides a permanent cease-fire, a complete withdrawal of the Israeli Gaza occupation forces and the unhindered entry of humanitarian aid,” the group said in a statement.
The agreement would also have included “the creation of a professional committee to manage Gaza’s affairs once a cease-fire will be declared,” said Hamas press release.
As part of the agreement, Trump would also guarantee that a cease-fire would be established within 60 days and would withdraw the Israeli Gaza troops.
Witkoff, however, later denied that it was the terms of any agreement he had proposed, telling Reuters that what he had seen was “completely unacceptable”.
An anonymous American official close to Witkoff also rejected the complaint, telling Tel Aviv Tribune that the group’s allegations were “inaccurate” and “disappointing”. Israel also rejected the complaint, an unnamed official calling for the press release “psychological war” and “propaganda” in the comments of the time of Israel.
Israel resumed his war against Gaza on March 18, after having broken a six-week temporary cease-fire, Netanyahu announcing that the fights had resumed with “full force”.
The months that followed saw the Israeli army resume its relentless assault through Gaza, killing nearly 4,000 people since the break -up and propelling the overall death number in the enclave to more than 54,000, according to the Gaza health authorities.
Israel also imposed a deadly blockade of several months on humanitarian aid entering the Palestinian enclave, which, according to UN officials, pushed the population on the verge of famine.
Israel partially raised its blockade on May 19, allowing a net of aid to enter Gaza, but the Secretary General of the United States Antonio Guterres described it as a simple “teaspoon” of what is necessary.
There were chaotic scenes this week while hungry crowds of Palestinians tried to reach vital supplies distributed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation supported by the United States and Israeli – a new controversial group which declared that it would provide aid in the besieged enclave.
