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The Islamist group Hamas said it was willing to negotiate "immediately" an agreement to release all hostages in exchange for an end to the war in the Gaza Strip after receiving a proposal from the United States to reach a ceasefire.
"We have received, through mediators, some ideas from the United States to achieve a ceasefire agreement. Consequently, Hamas welcomes any step that helps the efforts made to stop the aggression against our people and affirms that it is willing to immediately sit at the negotiating table," the movement stated in a statement.
Hamas reiterated that it seeks a pact to end the war, in exchange for the release of all Israeli hostages who remain in its power, and that guarantees the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the enclave. It also referred again to the proposal drawn up by the mediators (Egypt, Qatar and the United States) and which the Islamist group accepted on August 18, insisting that the Benjamin Netanyahu government has not yet responded.
"The occupation has not responded to date and has continued its massacres and ethnic cleansing. Consequently, the movement is in constant contact with mediators to transform these ideas into a comprehensive agreement that recognizes the demands of our people," added the Hamas statement.
Negotiations have entered a back-and-forth of statements, in which Hamas insists on the August agreement and asks for a response from Netanyahu while the Israeli Government maintains that Gaza must be controlled by its Army and that Hamas must be demilitarized.
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Meanwhile, it was learned this Sunday that the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, sent a new proposal last week to Hamas to reach an agreement on the Gaza hostages and on a ceasefire through an Israeli peace activist, according to an Axios exclusive.
Moments later, US President Donald Trump issued a "final warning" to Hamas to accept a deal to release the hostages: "The Israelis have accepted my terms. It's time for Hamas to accept them too," the president wrote on his Truth Social network.
In addition, an Egyptian security source assured this Sunday that Egypt, Qatar, and the United States are preparing a new proposal that they will "offer this week", which includes the release of all hostages held by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, "the end of the war in Gaza and the formation of a government in the Strip" to administer the Palestinian enclave in the post-war period.
New contacts for a comprehensive agreement come after 700 days since the start of the Israeli offensive in Gaza last Friday, following the October 7, 2023 attacks, amid growing protests in Israel to demand the release of the 48 remaining hostages held by Hamas.
In these 700 days of offensive, more than 64,300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israel, according to data from the Gaza Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas.
