——- Demands disarmament of Hamas
——- Hamas says likely to respond to truce proposal within 48 hours
——- Both parties to gather in Qatar for talks
DM Monitoring
CAIRO: Mediators Egypt and Qatar have presented a new Israeli proposal for a Gaza ceasefire to Ha-mas, Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said, but a senior Hamas official said at least two el-ements of the proposal were nonstarters.
Citing sources, Al Qahera said mediators awaited Hamas’ response. Hamas said in a statement later in the day that it was studying the proposal and that it will submit its response “as soon as possible”.
The militant group reiterated its core demand that a ceasefire deal must end the war in Gaza and achieve a full Israeli pull-out from the strip. Earlier, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that the proposal did not meet the Palestini-an group’s demand that Israel commit to a complete halt of hostilities.
In the proposal, Israel also for the first time called for the disarmament of Hamas in the next phase of negotiations, which the group will not agree to, Abu Zuhri said. “Handing over the resistance’s weapons is a million red lines and is not subject to consideration, let alone discussion”, Abu Zuhri said.
Israel did not immediately comment on the reported proposal.
The head of the Egyptian state information service told Al Qahera: “Hamas knows very well the value of time now and I believe that its response to the Israeli proposal will be quick.”
Israel restarted its offensive in the enclave in March, ending a ceasefire that went into effect in late January. The latest round of talks on Monday in Cairo to restore the ceasefire and free Israeli hostages ended with no apparent breakthrough, Palestinian and Egyptian sources said.
Hamas insists Israel commit to ending the war and pull out its forces from the Gaza Strip as agreed in the three-phase ceasefire accord that went into effect in late January. Israel has said it will not end the war unless Hamas is eliminated and returns the remaining hostages held in Gaza.
“Hamas is ready to hand over the hostages in one batch in exchange for the end of war and the with-drawal of Israeli military” from Gaza, Abu Zuhri said.
Since restarting its military offensive last month, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,500 Palestinians, Gaza health authorities have said. It has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and imposed a blockade on all supplies entering the enclave.
Meanwhile, 59 Israeli hostages remain in the hands of the militants. Israel believes 24 of them are alive. Earlier, A senior Hamas official said Tuesday the Palestinian Islamist movement expects to respond within 48 hours to an Israeli ceasefire proposal it received through mediators. “Hamas will most likely send its response to the mediators within the next 48 hours, as the movement is still conducting in-depth consultations,” the official told media.
Hamas said Monday it had received Israel’s latest proposal to halt the war in Gaza, now in its 18th month.
The official said the offer includes a truce of at least 45 days in return for the release of 10 living hos-tages held in Gaza.
It also provides for the release of 1,231 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and the entry of humani-tarian aid into the territory, which has been under complete blockade since March 2.
The proposal calls for a “permanent end to the war” on the condition Palestinian factions in Gaza, in-cluding Hamas, disarm, the official said.
Hamas has rejected the disarmament demand as a “red line” and “non-negotiable”.
Israel has yet to comment on the proposal’s contents.
Of the 251 hostages seized during the unprecedented October 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the war, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
