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Hamas has said it has largely accepted a proposal to release dozens of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and a temporary ceasefire in its seven-month war with Israel.
Hamas has not disclosed the details of the deal it agreed to, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has not yet formally responded, leaving it uncertain whether the terms will allow an end to fighting in Gaza and an exchange.
A diplomat briefed on the talks said Hamas accepted the meditators’ latest draft about two weeks ago.
Ismail Haniyeh, the Doha-based political leader of Hamas, told Qatar’s prime minister and the Egyptian intelligence chief that “Hamas agrees to their proposal regarding the ceasefire,” according to a statement on the militant group’s Telegram channel .
The proposal, brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, includes calls for an initial six-week break in the war during which Hamas would release 33 hostages, including women, children, the elderly and the wounded.
That would be followed, mediators hope, by an extended ceasefire described as “restoring sustainable calm” in which the remaining hostages would be released. According to Israeli officials, Hamas is holding 132 hostages and believes 37 of them are dead.
“Hamas called Netanyahu’s bluff and put the ball in his hands,” the diplomat said.
Hamas’ announcement came hours after Israel ordered the evacuation of East Rafah, a border town on the southern tip of the Gaza Strip that has become the last refuge for more than a million Palestinians fleeing the seven-month war between Israel and Hamas are.
Netanyahu’s office said over the weekend that the Israeli military “will enter Rafah and destroy the Hamas battalions that remain there – regardless of whether there is a temporary pause on the release of our hostages or not.”
Egypt, Qatar and the US have mediated between Israel and Hamas for a second round of hostage-for-prisoner exchanges following the release of over a hundred prisoners in Gaza for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners last November.
Talks had been stalled for months as Hamas demanded that any agreement end with a permanent ceasefire and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected Hamas’ demands under pressure from far-right members of his ruling coalition.
Negotiators were hoping for a breakthrough a week ago after Israel appeared to soften its stance on some key terms of a deal. But any optimism about a possible deal faded after Netanyahu said an offensive on Rafah would still take place, with or without a hostage-taking agreement, and Hamas continued to insist on a permanent ceasefire.
The families of Israeli hostages protesting for a deal on a central Tel Aviv highway told Israeli television reporters they were cautiously optimistic about a real breakthrough.
Palestinians in Rafah continued to celebrate, according to images on social media, hours after panic gripped the border town as the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of at least 100,000 residents on Monday morning and announced an impending military operation.
Hamas’ decision came after a series of diplomatic talks in which CIA Director Bill Burns traveled to Cairo and then to Qatar, where he held talks with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani. Qatar hosts Hamas’s political office.
Burn was expected to travel to Israel this week as the US seeks to increase pressure for a hostage-taking deal and persuade Israel not to continue the offensive against Rafah.