Palestinian movement Hamas, through Qatari and Egyptian intermediaries, presented its proposal for a new prisoner deal to Israel, but the Jewish state found it unacceptable, the US media reported on Monday, citing Israeli officials and a source.
At the same time, an Israeli official noted that Hamas's offer shows the movement is ready to negotiate a new hostage deal, even as fighting continues in the Gaza Strip, the report said.
A proposal included a three-step process, the report read. Each phase provided for a pause in hostilities for more than a month in exchange for the release of hostages. As part of the first phase of the deal, Israel is asked to withdraw its troops from Gaza in exchange for the release of approximately 40 hostages, the report read, adding that the final phase called for the release of Israeli soldiers held in the Gaza Strip and an end to the war in the enclave.
"The proposal we received from Hamas on Sunday was totally off base and we asked the mediators to try and produce a more acceptable proposal. They are working on it and let's see what happens … The negotiations are not stuck anymore but they are also not making significant progress yet," the Israeli official was quoted as saying by the news portal.
On October 7, Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip while its fighters breached the border, attacking both civilian neighborhoods and military bases. As a result, over 1,200 people in Israel were killed and some 240 others abducted. Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza and started a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. Over 21,800 people have been killed so far in Gaza as a result of Israeli strikes, local authorities said.
On November 24, Qatar mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas on a temporary truce and the exchange of some of the prisoners and hostages, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire was extended several times and expired on December 1. Over 100 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza.
