By Samia Nakhoul and Muhammad Al Gebaly
DUBAI/CAIRO (Reuters) – Hamas has accepted a U.S. proposal to begin negotiations on the release of Israeli hostages, including soldiers and men, 16 days into the first phase of a deal aimed at ending the war in Gaza, a senior source said. from Hamas to Reuters on Saturday. .
The Islamic militant group dropped its demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing the deal, and would allow talks to achieve that during the first six-week phase, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are private.
A Palestinian official close to internationally mediated peace efforts said the proposal could lead to a framework agreement if adopted by Israel and would end the nine-month war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
A source in Israel’s negotiating team, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was now a real chance of reaching a deal. This contrasted sharply with previous cases in the nine-month war in Gaza, when Israel said conditions imposed by Hamas were unacceptable.
A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. On Friday, his office said talks would continue next week and emphasized that gaps remained between the sides.
The conflict has claimed the lives of more than 38,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, since Hamas attacked cities in southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, according to official Israeli data.
The new proposal guarantees that mediators will guarantee a temporary ceasefire, the delivery of aid and the withdrawal of Israeli troops, as long as indirect talks to implement the second phase of the agreement continue, the Hamas source said.
Efforts to secure a ceasefire and release hostages in Gaza have intensified in recent days with active diplomacy between Washington, Israel and Qatar, which is leading mediation efforts from Doha, where the exiled leadership of the Hamas.
A regional source said the US administration is trying hard to secure a deal before November’s presidential elections.
Netanyahu said on Friday that the head of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad had returned from an initial meeting with mediators in Qatar and that talks would continue next week.
(Reporting and writing by Samia Nakhoul and Muhammad Al Gebaly; additional reporting by Maayan Lubell Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and William Mallard)
