The radical group “Hamas” (recognised as a terrorist group in the USA and the EU) expressed its agreement with the proposals on the terms of ceasefire in the war with Israel announced by Qatar and Egypt and, in particular, agreed to release 10 hostages held since October 2023. This is reported by Arab media, as well as Reuters and France-Presse, citing representatives of the intermediary countries and “Hamas”.
It is reported that the proposals include a 60-day ceasefire, the release of at least 10 hostages in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, as well as a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip. Presumably Hamas will also hand over several bodies of dead hostages.
Israel has yet to react to the news that Hamas has agreed to new peace proposals from US mediators. Israeli authorities had previously said they would only agree to a ceasefire if all hostages were released.
Ceasefire talks have continued for the past several months without success. Israel recently announced plans to expand combat operations in Gaza-despite criticism of its actions from most countries in the world, including Israel’s traditional allies.
According to the latest figures, Hamas is holding 49 hostages in Gaza who have been taken hostage in Israel. The Israeli military believes 27 of them have been killed, 22 remain alive.
The current war in Gaza began with a Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 that killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages. Israel’s operation in Gaza, which was a response to the attack, resulted in widespread destruction and the deaths of tens of thousands of residents of the territory (these are figures from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which do not categorise the dead into militants and civilians). Most of the hostages were released as a result of negotiations, but several dozen of them died in Gaza.