CAIRO: Hamas has agreed to a Gaza ceasefire proposal it received two days ago from mediators Egypt and Qatar, the Palestinian militant group’s chief said on Saturday (Mar 29).
“Two days ago, we received a proposal from the mediators in Egypt and Qatar. We dealt with it positively and accepted it,” Khalil al-Hayya said in a televised speech.
“We hope that the (Israeli) occupation will not undermine (it),” said Hayya, who leads the Hamas negotiating team in indirect talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza that erupted in October 2023.
Security sources told Reuters on Thursday that Egypt had received positive indications from Israel over a new ceasefire proposal that would include a transitional phase.
The proposal suggests that Hamas releases five of the Israeli hostages each week, the sources said.
The Israeli prime minister’s office said it had held a series of consultations according to the proposal that was received from the mediators, and that Israel had conveyed to the mediators a counter-proposal in full coordination with the United States.
Reuters asked the prime minister’s office if it had also agreed to the ceasefire proposal, but it did not immediately respond.
