Hamas agrees to a proposal for a cease-fire agreement

Hamas agreed to the ceasefire proposal in Gazi which he received a few days ago from the mediators of Egypt and Qatar, said the head of that Palestinian group.

"Two days ago we received a proposal from the Egyptian and Qatari mediation brothers. We approved it. We hope the occupier (Israel) will not obstruct it," Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said in a televised address on Saturday (March 29th), Reuters reports.

Al Haya is leading Hamas' negotiating team in indirect talks aimed at securing a truce in the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza that broke out in October 2023.

Transitional phase

Security sources told Reuters earlier that Egypt had received positive indications from Israel about a new ceasefire proposal that would include a transitional phase.

The proposal calls for Hamas to release five Israeli hostages each week, the sources said.

The office of the Israeli Prime Minister announced that it had held a series of consultations according to the proposal it had received from the mediators and that Israel had conveyed to the mediators a counter-proposal in full coordination with the United States.

The Israeli prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on whether they had agreed to the ceasefire proposal.

Ten days ago, Israel continued intensive airstrikes across Gaza, followed by ground operations, after negotiations on extending the truce with the Palestinian militant group Hamas stalled.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said on March 24 that 730 people had been killed since Israel resumed bombing on March 18.

Source: Reuters/Radio Free Europe