Three-phase cease-fire proposal received, under review: Hamas

The Palestinian group Hamas said on Tuesday it had received and was reviewing a new proposal for a ceasefire and prisoner releases in Gaza.

This proposal has been presented by mediators after negotiations with Israel.

A senior Hamas official told the British news agency Reuters that the proposal included a three-phase ceasefire.

First, on October 7, 2023, civilians among those taken prisoner will be released, followed by soldiers and finally the bodies of prisoners who have been killed during the Israeli offensive on Gaza.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not say how long the steps would take.

But it was the first time since the ceasefire ended in late November that details of a new proposal being considered by the parties have been released.

The ceasefire proposal came after talks in Paris with the intelligence chiefs of Israel, the US and Egypt and Qatar’s prime minister.

In a sign of the seriousness of the talks, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said he was traveling to Cairo to discuss the issue, his first public visit in more than a month.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has reiterated his commitment not to withdraw troops from Gaza until ‘total victory’.

Hamas says it will release the remaining prisoners only as part of a broader deal to end the war permanently.

Israel, whose offensive in Gaza has so far killed more than 26,000, says it will not stop fighting until the militant group that has ruled Gaza since 2007 is eliminated.

Netanyahu is under pressure from his ally Washington to pave the way for an end to the war, and the Israeli government is also facing pressure from relatives of prisoners back home.

But far-right parties in Netanyahu’s ruling coalition say they will leave the coalition rather than support a deal to release the prisoners.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh says he is reviewing the ceasefire proposal.

He said that Hamas’s priority is to end Israeli aggression and ensure the complete withdrawal of troops.

Netanyahu said during a visit to an Israeli settlement in the West Bank: ‘We will not settle for anything less than total victory.

“This means that Hamas will be eliminated, we will bring back all our prisoners and make sure that Gaza never again becomes a threat to Israel.”

Netanyahu said that no Palestinian prisoners will be released from Israeli prisons until then.

Sami Abu Zahri, another senior Hamas official, said Netanyahu’s statements “show that he is not interested in the success of the Paris meeting and that he does not care about the lives of (Israeli) prisoners.”

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