Hamas said Friday it was ready to start talks "immediately" on a proposal for a ceasefire with Israel in Gaza after responding in "a positive spirit" to a draft deal envisaging a release of hostages and negotiations on ending the conflict.
"The movement is ready to engage immediately and seriously in a cycle of negotiations on the mechanism to put in place" the terms of a draft truce proposal received from Egyptian and Qatari mediators, the militant group said in a statement.
Hamas said earlier on Friday it was "conducting consultations with leaders of Palestinian forces and factions regarding the proposal received... from the mediators".
It was not clear if Hamas’s statement meant it had accepted the proposal from US President Donald Trump for a 60-day ceasefire.
Hamas has been seeking guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war, now nearly 21 months old.
Hours earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to bring home all the hostages held by militants in Gaza, after coming under massive domestic pressure over their fate.
"I feel a deep commitment, first and foremost, to ensure the return of all our abductees, all of them," Netanyahu said.
Trump said Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen, adding on Thursday that he wanted "safety for the people of Gaza".
"They've gone through hell," he said.
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A Palestinian source familiar with the negotiations told AFP earlier this week that the latest proposals included "a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release half of the living Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip" – thought to number 22 – "in exchange for Israel releasing a number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees".
Two previous ceasefires brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have seen temporary halts in fighting, coupled with the return of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Out of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the October 2023 attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
Nearly 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has recently expanded its military operations.
The military said in a statement it had been striking suspected Hamas targets across the territory, including around Gaza City in the north and Khan Younis and Rafah in the south.
The health ministry in Gaza said the number of Palestinians killed in the territory has passed 57,000.
(FRANCE 24 with AP and AFP)
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