Hamas has proposed a ceasefire plan that would silence the guns in Gaza for four and a half months, leading to the end of the war and the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza. .
It comes in response to a proposal sent last week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators and backed by the United States and Israel.
According to a draft seen by Reuters, Hamas’ counterproposal foresees three phases each lasting 45 days.
The proposal would have the terrorists exchange the remaining Israeli hostages they captured on October 7 for Palestinian prisoners.
The reconstruction of Gaza would begin, Israeli forces would withdraw completely and bodies and remains would be exchanged.
The proposal would have the terrorists exchange the remaining Israeli hostages they captured on October 7 for Palestinian prisoners.
Palestinians return to their neighborhood after Israeli forces withdrew from the neighborhood district of Shuja’iyya and inspect buildings and roads destroyed due to Israeli attacks on Gaza City on Tuesday.
Smoke rises during the Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived overnight in Israel after meeting the leaders of mediators Qatar and Egypt in the war’s most serious diplomatic push yet, aimed at reaching an expanded truce. Details of Hamas’ counteroffer had not been previously reported.
According to the document, during the first 45-day phase, all Israeli women hostages, men under the age of 19, and the elderly and sick would be released, in exchange for the release of Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons. Israel would also withdraw its troops from populated areas during the first phase.
The implementation of the second phase would not begin until the parties conclude “indirect talks on the requirements necessary to end mutual military operations and return to complete calm.”
The second phase would include the release of the remaining male hostages and “the withdrawal of Israeli forces outside the borders of all areas of the Gaza Strip.”
The bodies and remains would be exchanged during the third phase. The truce would also increase the flow of food and other aid to desperate Gaza civilians, who face hunger and severe shortages of basic supplies.
According to one report, 32 of the more than 130 hostages still being held by Hamas are no longer alive.
Citing a confidential assessment by Israeli intelligence officials, The New York Times reported yesterday that more hostages have been killed than previously thought.
Until then, the IDF had only confirmed the deaths of 29 of the captives still in Gaza.
In addition to the 32 confirmed deaths, the IDF is assessing “unconfirmed intelligence” that at least 20 other hostages may also have been killed, the report said, citing four military officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar, in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday.
Palestinians return to their neighborhood to search for their belongings in the Shuja’iyya district after Israeli forces withdrew from the area in Gaza City, Gaza, on Tuesday.
Palestinians return to their neighborhood to search for their belongings in the Shuja’iyya district after Israeli forces withdrew from the area in Gaza City, Gaza, on Tuesday.
Officials said all families of those who died have been informed of their deaths and confirmed that most of those killed died during the October 7 attacks and their bodies were taken to Gaza.
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in response to the report that the IDF is “working by all means to return (the hostages) home and exhausting all information about them and their conditions.”
He added: “The IDF is accompanying the families of the hostages in these complex and difficult days, and our representatives are providing the families with any confirmed information about their loved ones.”
He said the IDF has so far informed the families of 31 hostages that their loved ones have been confirmed killed.
These include 29 hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 – all of whom have been announced in recent months – and soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, who were killed and their bodies taken by Hamas in 2014.
“We provide the rest of the families with precise information about their destination and conditions,” he added.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said the IDF told it before the article was published that 31 of the hostages, instead of 32, had died.
Israel began its military offensive in Gaza after terrorists from Hamas-ruled Gaza killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages in southern Israel on October 7.
Of the 253 hostages captured, 132 are believed to remain detained after a week-long truce in late November in which 105 people were freed.
Four hostages were released before the truce and another was rescued by the military.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 27,708 people have been confirmed dead in Israel’s military campaign, and thousands more are feared buried under the rubble.