On Sunday, Hamas announced their response to the mediators’ proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza. According to Israeli officials, Hamas was only willing to release about 20 hostages in exchange for a six-week ceasefire, which is half of the original number planned. The official stated that Hamas was using “ridiculous excuses” to explain the reduction in the number of abductees they were willing to release, such as claiming that some of the abductees were not alive or not in their hands.
Hamas was demanding higher “keys,” meaning the release of more Palestinian prisoners for each Israeli abductee, and had increased their demand regarding the number of world prisoners to be released. The Israeli official noted that Hamas had divided the agreement into several phases and was binding them together. They were conditioning the implementation of phase one on providing international guarantees to end the war in phase two of the deal.
Additionally, Hamas demanded the withdrawal of IDF forces from large areas in the Gaza Strip in phase one, allowing for the full return of Palestinians to the north of
