Hamas says it is reviewing the Israeli response to a Gaza ceasefire proposal, despite the document failing to meet the group’s key demands, a day after the Trump administration suggested that a deal to halt the fighting and release more hostages could be within reach.
The White House confirmed that a draft ceasefire proposal, supported by Israel, had been distributed to Hamas on Thursday and expressed optimism about recent progress toward an agreement.
In a statement Friday, senior Hamas official Basem Naim wrote that the proposal showed Israel “fundamentally seeks to entrench the occupation and perpetuate policies of killing and starvation, even during what is supposed to be a period of temporary de-escalation,” but added that the group’s leadership was “currently undertaking a thorough and responsible review of the new proposal.”
Since moving to engage with Hamas directly, the Trump administration has secured the release of 21-year-old Edan Alexander, the last living U.S. citizen held in Gaza. But securing a broader deal to end the war has proven more complex.
The White House announced that special envoy Steve Witkoff sent the draft ceasefire deal to Hamas on Thursday after Israel signed off on the proposal. “We do believe that it has some significant promise,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters. “There is some optimism.”
Neither side has officially publicized the proposal’s details, but Israeli officials said Thursday that the offer includes the release of 10 living hostages from Gaza and the bodies of 18 more, in return for a 60-day ceasefire.
The Times of Israel and Reuters reported that the proposal stated that the hostages were to be released within the first week, in exchange for the release of 1,236 Palestinian prisoners and the remains of 180 dead Palestinians. The plan also states that humanitarian aid will be sent to Gaza, distributed with the involvement of groups including the United Nations, the news outlets reported.
Comments from other Hamas officials suggest that the group was surprised by some elements on the Israeli proposal.
Sami Abu Zuhri told Al-Masirah, a media outlet run by Yemen’s Houthi fighters, that the proposal Hamas received from the Israelis was “far from what Hamas agreed to with the American mediator.”
He said the proposal received from Israel did not include a commitment to withdraw Israeli forces from Gaza or guarantee the entry of aid into the territory. And he suggested that the proposal did not include language about what would happen after the initial 60-day ceasefire.
Hamas has been seeking assurances that Israel would permanently halt its assault after the ceasefire, while Israeli authorities want to keep their options open.
Since the last ceasefire between Israel and Hamas broke down in March, Israel has launched intense waves of attacks on the territory, heavily restricted aid and said it plans to occupy Gaza. The United Nations is warning that the moves have put the entire population of Gaza at risk of famine.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel won’t stop fighting until Hamas is destroyed. His security cabinet approved a plan this month to seize all of Gaza and push its residents south, where Israel would then facilitate their expulsion from the enclave, a move experts say probably would be a crime under international law.
Alon Rom in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.
