Israel confirms receipt of Hamas ceasefire, hostage proposal

Israel has received Hamas’s latest ceasefire and hostage release proposal, an Israeli official confirmed to The Times of Israel.

The plan, which significantly scales down the demands Hamas made last month in Doha, was relayed through mediators, according to an Arab diplomat, Caliber.Az cites.

The newspaper also quoted an Arab diplomat as saying that the proposal represents a withdrawal from most of the demands that Hamas put forward last month, which led to the collapse of the talks in Doha.

Earlier, Egyptian officials reported that Hamas had agreed to a 60-day ceasefire with Israel that includes the release of half of the hostages held in Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim confirmed the group’s approval of the proposal on Facebook, while Hamas said other Palestinian factions had also informed mediators of their support. A source familiar with the talks told Reuters that the framework closely mirrored an earlier plan put forward by US special envoy Steve Witkoff, which Israel had already accepted.

Mediators met Hamas representatives in Cairo on August 17, with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani joining the discussions the following day and holding talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Hamas representatives, according to an official briefed on the meetings. 

The Egyptian official source noted that the proposal envisioned a 60-day suspension of Israeli military operations as part of a broader framework toward ending the nearly two-year-old conflict.

The developments come as Israel moves forward with plans to seize control of Gaza City, a strategy that has stirred alarm both abroad and domestically.

Inside Gaza, thousands of Palestinians fearing an imminent Israeli offensive have fled their homes in eastern Gaza City, which has been under constant bombardment, for areas to the west and south. Witnesses reported that at least nine Israeli tanks and bulldozers advanced into the Sabra suburb of Gaza City on August 18 in what appeared to be a show of force.

Israel’s Army Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General Eyal Zamir, said the country was at a turning point in the Gaza war, “with its focus on enhancing the strikes against Hamas in Gaza City,” according to a military statement.

Israel approved the plan to take control of Gaza City earlier this month, but officials said it could take weeks to implement, leaving the door open for a ceasefire despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge that it would begin “fairly quickly” and end the war with Hamas’s defeat.

Military officials warn that a large-scale ground incursion could displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, many already uprooted multiple times during the conflict.

By Sabina Mammadli