Egypt submits revised hostage deal proposal to Hamas after Israel's rejection

Egypt, one of the mediators in the ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, has presented a new ceasefire proposal as a way to bridge the existing gaps between the two sides.

Exclusive Israeli media reports indicate that Cairo sent the parties a revised version of the ceasefire proposal that had been jointly put forward by Egypt and Qatar last week.

The earlier proposal was accepted by Hamas but rejected by Israel. According to initial reports, the new proposal lies somewhere between the version presented by the mediators last week, which oversaw the release of five Israeli hostages, and Israel’s counterproposal, which called for the release of 11 hostages in exchange for renewed ceasefire over 40-days.

Israel, which rejected last week’s Egypt-Qatar proposal, announced on April 2 that it was expanding its attacks on the Gaza Strip following a ceasefire violation by Hamas.

By Nazrin Sadigova