Hamas Open to Five-Year Truce and Hostage Release Deal, Official Says

TDT | Manama

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Hamas is open to reaching an agreement to end the war in Gaza, which would include the release of all hostages and establish a five-year truce, a senior official said yesterday, as the group's negotiators continued talks with mediators in Cairo.

A Hamas delegation engaged with Egyptian officials in efforts to find a resolution to the 18-month conflict. Meanwhile, on the ground, an Israeli airstrike on a family home in Gaza City reportedly killed at least 10 people, according to rescuers.

Nearly eight weeks into an Israeli-imposed blockade, the United Nations has warned that food and medical supplies in Gaza are critically low.

Speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, the Hamas official said the group is "ready for an exchange of prisoners in a single batch and a truce for five years."

This latest push for a ceasefire follows an earlier Israeli proposal that Hamas rejected earlier this month, calling it "partial" and reiterating demands for a "comprehensive" agreement to end the conflict triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

According to senior Hamas sources, the rejected Israeli offer involved a 45-day ceasefire in return for the release of 10 living hostages. Hamas, however, insists that any deal must lead to a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and a substantial increase in humanitarian aid.

Under a previously proposed ceasefire plan, outlined by then-US President Joe Biden, an Israeli pullout and a permanent end to hostilities would have taken place during a second phase. However, that deal collapsed two months after the first phase began on January 19.

Hamas had sought negotiations for advancing to the second phase, while Israel pressed for an extension of the initial ceasefire. Israel continues to demand the release of all hostages seized during the 2023 attack and the disarmament of Hamas — a condition the Palestinian group continues to reject as a "red line."

“This time, we will insist on guarantees regarding the end of the war,” senior Hamas official Mahmud Mardawi said in a statement.