The Palestinian militant group Hamas says that it supports a new ceasefire plan for Gaza which would see five other hostages released in Israel in exchange for a 50-day truce.
Khalil Al-Hayyam, the most senior leader in Hamas outside Gaza, said the group had approved the project agreement sent by Egyptian and Qatari mediators.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had also received the plan and “transported mediators a counter-proposition in the middle of the United States,” said AFP news agency.
If agreed, the new limited ceasefire agreement could coincide with the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr.
The discussions come as Israeli forces continue from air strikes across Gaza and carry out a ground operation in Rafah after a ceasefire that was agreed in January in January earlier this month.
During the first phase of this agreement, Hamas published 33 hostages. It is believed that the group is still 59 years old, although not everyone is alive.
Hamas had previously insisted to stick to the initial agreement – with negotiations to start a second phase which would see the release of all the remaining hostages, in exchange for a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces in Gaza and at the end of the war. But these negotiations have never started.
Israel and the United States had rather proposed that the first phase of the ceasefire-which expired a month ago-be extended, without clear warranty that the war would end.
Israel accused Hamas of having rejected the extension and resumed its military offensive in Gaza on March 18.
Israel has since launched air strikes Who killed more than 900 people in Gaza, said the Ministry of Health managed by Hamas.
The Netanyahu office said that the Israeli counter-offer at the last cease-fire plan had been agreed with the United States, but that it has not provided any detail so far.
All this occurs while the Israeli forces have continued the air strikes through Gaza – and a ground operation in the southern city of Rafah, which, according to Israeli defense forces (FDI), aims to extend its security zone around the south of Gaza.
Meanwhile, demonstrators in Israel accused Netanyahu and his government of endangering the life of the remaining hostages by breaking the ceasefire.
One of these hostages, Elkana Bohbot, was again shown in distress in a new video published by Hamas in which he asked for his release.
The war was triggered when Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and bringing 251 to Gaza as captives.
Israel responded with a massive military offensive, which killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, said the Ministry of Health managed by Gaza.
