The Palestinian group Hamas says it is “open to all ideas” but insists the deal must permanently end Israel's war in Gaza.
Hamas has received Israel's official response to its latest Gaza cease-fire proposal and the Palestinian group will study the document before sending a response, the organization's deputy chief for Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, said in a statement.
“Today, Hamas received the official response of the Zionist occupation to the proposal submitted to the Egyptian and Qatari mediators on April 13,” al-Hayya, who is currently based in Qatar, said in a statement released by the group on Saturday.
After more than six months of Israel's brutal war in the Gaza Strip, ceasefire talks remain deadlocked, with Hamas sticking to its demands that any deal with Israel must end Israel's war on the Palestinian enclave.
An Egyptian delegation visited Israel for discussions with Israeli officials on Friday, seeking a way to resume talks to end the conflict and return the remaining prisoners held in Gaza after the Oct. 7 attacks on southern Israel, an official briefed on the meeting told AFP. .
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said Israel had no new proposals to make, although it was willing to consider a limited truce in which Hamas would release 33 prisoners instead of the 40 previously discussed. On Thursday, the United States and 17 other countries called on Hamas to release all its prisoners as a way to end the war.
In a statement issued on Friday, Hamas said it was “open to any ideas or proposals that take into account the needs and rights of our people.”
But the group stuck to its key demand that Israel end the war in Gaza, criticizing a joint statement issued by the US and others for not calling for a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
A renewed impetus for talks
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday that he sees renewed momentum in talks to end the war and return prisoners.
Citing two Israeli officials, Axios reported that Israel had told Egyptian mediators that it was ready to give prisoner release talks “one last chance” before proceeding with a ground invasion of Rafah, the last refuge for about a million Palestinians who have fled. attacks by Israeli forces further north in Gaza earlier in the war.
The war in Gaza was also on the agenda of an international summit scheduled to begin this weekend in Saudi Arabia.
A special session of the World Economic Forum set to begin in Riyadh on Sunday will include a session on Gaza on Monday, featuring the newly appointed Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Sigrid Kaag, the UN aid coordinator for the Gaza Strip.
