Hamas responds to Gaza ceasefire plan seeking some changes

Hamas said on Tuesday that it gave mediators its reply to the US-backed proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, seeking some "amendments” on the deal. It appeared the reply was short of an outright acceptance that the United States has been pushing for but kept negotiations alive over an elusive halt to the eight-month war.

The foreign ministries of Qatar and Egypt — who have been key mediators alongside the United States — confirmed that they had received Hamas’ response and said mediators were studying it.

"We’re in receipt of this reply that Hamas delivered to Qatar and to Egypt, and we are evaluating it right now,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington.

Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said the response included "amendments that confirm the ceasefire, withdrawal, reconstruction and (prisoner) exchange.” Taha did not elaborate.

But while supporting the broad outlines of the deal, Hamas officials have expressed wariness over whether Israel would implement its terms, particularly provisions for an eventual permanent end to fighting and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in return for the release of all hostages held by the Palestinian group Hamas.

Even as the US has said Israel accepted the proposal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given conflicting signals, saying Israel will not stop until its its goal of destroying Hamas is achieved.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been in the region this week trying to push through the deal — his eighth visit since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel ignited Israel's campaign in Gaza. On Tuesday, he continued pressure on Hamas to accept the proposal, saying that the UN Security Council’s vote in its favour made it "as clear as it possibly could be” that the world supports the plan.

Khalil Al Hayya speaks during an interview with the media in Istanbul, Turkey. AP

Earlier a month ago, a top Hamas political official told media the group is willing to agree to a truce of five years or more with Israel and that it would lay down its weapons and convert into a political party if an independent Palestinian state is established along pre-1967 borders.

The comments by Khalil Al Hayya, a high-ranking Hamas official who has represented the Palestinian group in negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, in an interview came amid a stalemate in months of talks for a ceasefire in Gaza. The suggestion that Hamas would disarm appeared to be a significant concession by the Palestinian group officially committed to Israel’s destruction.

But it’s unlikely Israel would consider such a scenario. It has vowed to crush Hamas following the deadly Oct. 7 attacks that triggered the war, and its current leadership is adamantly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state on lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

The proposal has raised hopes of ending an 8-month conflict in which Israel's bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza have killed over 37,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials, and driven some 80% of the population of 2.3 million from their homes. Israeli restrictions and ongoing fighting have hindered efforts to bring humanitarian aid to the isolated coastal enclave, fueling widespread hunger.

Israel launched its campaign, vowing to eliminate Hamas, after the group and other militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage. Over 100 hostages were released during a weeklong cease-fire last year in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Associated Press