Announcement comes amid pressure from Arab mediators for terror group to soften its response to Witkoff proposal, but statement doesn’t specify whether response has been revised
Today, 3:28 am
Hamas announced Sunday that it was prepared to immediately begin a new round of indirect negotiations on remaining “points of contention” amid pressure from mediators to soften its stance after the terror group submitted a response to a US ceasefire and hostage deal proposal that Washington called “totally unacceptable.”
Hamas said in a statement that its goal for the new talks would be to reach a deal that “ensures relief for our people and an end to the humanitarian catastrophe, ultimately leading to a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of the occupation forces.”
The terror group didn’t say that it had rescinded or revised the proposal that it submitted on Saturday to US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Witkoff said Saturday that the Hamas response “takes us backward,” adding that he had wanted Hamas to accept his “framework proposal” as the basis for a round of “proximity talks” to be held in the coming days.
US President Donald Trump had indicated on Friday that a deal could be announced later that day or on Saturday. Witkoff’s statement was the first time he had publicly revealed that his proposal had only been a starting point for another round of talks.
Hamas in its Sunday statement appeared to confirm its willingness to hold those talks.
Hamas’s Saturday response to Witkoff made a series of amendments to the US envoy’s proposal, including one that that would make it more difficult for Israel to resume fighting if talks on a permanent ceasefire are not completed by the end of 60-day truce outlined by the US, a source directly involved in the negotiations said.
The updated proposal submitted by Hamas also envisions the release of the 10 hostages being spread out more throughout the two-month truce, rather than in two batches on the first and seventh day, as Witkoff stipulates, according to the source.
This change was aimed at preventing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from abandoning talks on a permanent ceasefire after the 10 hostages are released or refusing to engage in the talks altogether, as he did during the previous ceasefire, which ended in March when Israel resumed intensive fighting in Gaza.
The Sunday Hamas statement also made a point of thanking Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt for their efforts to bring about a ceasefire. Hours earlier, the two countries issued a joint statement “emphasizing the importance of intensifying efforts to overcome the obstacles facing the negotiations.
Netanyahu’s office said Sunday that Israel had accepted the Witkoff proposal. However, his cabinet has yet to hold a vote on it and several far-right ministers have expressed their opposition.
The US proposal was formulated in close coordination with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who reviewed it with Witkoff during a visit to Washington last week.
The Witkoff proposal stipulates that the parties would have to reach an agreement on the parameters of Israel’s partial withdrawal from Gaza during the 60-day truce. It also provides for further negotiations during the truce on a potential settlement to end the war.
According to a copy of Witkoff’s latest proposal, the authenticity of which was confirmed to The Times of Israel by two sources familiar with the negotiations, Hamas would release 10 living Israeli hostages held in Gaza and return the bodies of 18 deceased hostages during the 60-day ceasefire.
In return, Israel would release 125 Palestinian terror convicts serving life sentences, 1,111 Gazans detained since the start of the war on October 7, 2023, and 180 bodies of Palestinians currently held by Israel.
The IDF would also pull back from some areas where troops are currently deployed; the parameters of the pullback would be finalized “during proximity negotiations.”
There are currently 58 hostages held in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF, and 20 hostages who are believed to be alive. There are grave concerns for the well-being of three others, Israeli officials have said.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Sunday that “regardless of any negotiations,” he instructed the IDF “to continue forward in Gaza” and achieve all objectives.
Following Katz’s statement, the IDF announced that Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir instructed the military to expand the ground offensive against Hamas to additional areas in the Gaza Strip. Additionally, the IDF said Zamir was instructed to establish additional aid distribution sites for the Palestinian civilian population.
Only four aid sites have been established in Gaza, and not all of them are operational. Three are in southern Gaza’s Rafah and one is adjacent to the Netzarim Corridor in the Central Strip, forcing many Gazans to embark on long and dangerous treks across a war zone in order to pick up boxes of aid to feed them for several days. The scheme managed by the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has come under criticism from aid groups who say it fails to adhere to humanitarian principles.
The initiative came under further scrutiny on Sunday when dozens of Palestinians were reportedly injured near one of the sites. Hamas authorities claimed the IDF opened fire on the Gazans, while the military vehemently denied having done so.
Content retrieved from: https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-says-ready-for-indirect-talks-to-resolve-points-of-contention-on-gaza-deal/.
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