Hamas said on Friday it has delivered a “positive” response to the United States–brokered proposal for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, handing its written reply to Qatari and Egyptian mediators. A Palestinian official familiar with the talks told Reuters the response should help ‘facilitate reaching a deal.’
In a formal statement, the militant group said it accepted the framework’s substance and sought only minor, procedural amendments. Hamas added it is prepared to begin negotiations immediately on the mechanism for implementing the agreement, which includes a staged exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from parts of the enclave.
U.S. President Donald Trump this week said Israel had already agreed to the outline and urged Hamas to sign on. With both sides now indicating provisional consent, mediators are expected to launch intensive talks aimed at finalising logistics and sequencing before a truce can take effect.
The war, now in its 21st month, has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, and began after Hamas-led attacks that left about 1,200 people dead in Israel and roughly 250 taken captive. Israeli authorities believe around 20 hostages remain alive in Gaza. Under the draft deal, Hamas would release at least 10 living captives and the remains of others during the two-month pause, while Israel would free an as-yet-undisclosed number of Palestinian detainees.
Breaking | Hamas:
Following internal deliberations and consultations with Palestinian factions, we have submitted a positive response to the latest ceasefire proposal put forward by the mediators.
Hamas is fully prepared to engage immediately in serious negotiations on how to
Reuters quoted a senior Palestinian official as claiming the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement Hamas had responded positively to the proposal to establish a ceasefire in Gaza.
