Hamas studies Israel’s response to ceasefire proposal | middle East

Hamas has already received Israel’s official response to its latest ceasefire proposal and will study it before responding, said one of the Islamist group’s officials. “Hamas has received the official response from the Zionist occupation to the proposal presented to Egyptian and Qatari mediators on April 13,” said Khalil Al-Hayya, who is in Qatar, in a statement.

After more than six months of war, negotiations remain deadlocked, with Hamas maintaining its demands that any agreement must put an end to the military conflict.

An Egyptian delegation visited Israel to discuss with Israeli authorities on Friday, looking for a way to restart talks to end the conflict and return hostages taken when Hamas fighters attacked Israel on October 7, an official said. informed about the meetings, cited by Reuters.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Israel had no new proposals to make, although it was willing to consider a limited truce in which 33 hostages would be released by Hamas, instead of the 40 previously under discussion.

On Thursday, the United States and 17 other countries called on Hamas to release all its hostages as a way to end the crisis.

Hamas promised not to give in to international pressure, but in a statement issued on Friday it said it was “open to any ideas or proposals that take into account the needs and rights of our people.”

However, he maintained his main demands, rejected by Israel, and criticized the joint statement issued by the US and other countries for not demanding a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday he saw new momentum in negotiations to end the war and return the remaining hostages.

Quoting two Israeli officials, the site Axios reported that Israel told Egyptian mediators on Friday that it was ready to give hostage talks “one last opportunity” to reach an agreement with Hamas before moving forward with an invasion of Rafah, the last refuge for about a million Palestinians who fled Israeli forces from the northernmost areas of Gaza at the start of the war.

This Saturday, the President of the United States assured that he will not stop working for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas until they return home.

Joe Biden published on social media a photograph in the Oval Office of the White House with the four-year-old Israeli-American girl Abigail Edan, kidnapped by the Islamist movement and released in November after an exchange with Palestinian prisoners.

“I will not rest until all hostages taken from their families and kidnapped by Hamas are returned to the arms of their loved ones,” he said. “They have my word. Their families have my word,” added the US President.

Meanwhile, in Rafah, Palestinian health authorities said an Israeli airstrike on a house killed at least five people.