JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel is studying Hamas’ response to a proposal that would include a hostage release agreement and a ceasefire in Gaza, according to a statement from Israeli spy agency Mossad.
“The hostage agreement mediators provided the negotiating team with Hamas’ response to the draft hostage agreement. Israel is examining the response and will respond to the mediators,” said a statement released by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on behalf of the Mossad.
The statement did not provide further details.
Hamas, in a statement, said that Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas based in Qatar, spoke with mediators in Qatar and Egypt about the ideas being discussed by the movement in order to reach an agreement to end the war in nine months. He added that talks were also held with Turkish officials on recent developments.
“The movement positively engaged with the essence of the ongoing deliberations,” he stated.
Mediators including Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying for months to secure a ceasefire and the release of the remaining 120 hostages in Gaza, but their efforts have stalled.
Hamas says any agreement must end the war and trigger Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza. Israel says it will accept only temporary pauses in fighting until Hamas is eradicated.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas gunmen invaded southern Israel on Oct. 7, killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli records. The offensive launched by Israel in retaliation killed almost 38,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and left the heavily urbanized coastal enclave in ruins.
The ceasefire plan under debate, which was made public at the end of May by US President Joe Biden, involves the gradual release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli forces in two phases.
It also provides for the release of Palestinian prisoners, with the reconstruction of Gaza and the return of the remains of deceased hostages in a third phase.
(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; additional reporting by Nidal Al Mughrabi and Steven Scheer; editing by Chris Reese, William Maclean, Gareth Jones and Cynthia Osterman)
