CNN
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Israel has accepted the new proposal for a ceasefire with Hamas from US envoy Steve Witkoff, according to an Israeli official.
The proposal, viewed by CNN, includes Hamas releasing 10 Israeli hostages and 18 deceased hostages in exchange for 125 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and 1,111 Gazans detained since the war began. Negotiations toward a permanent ceasefire would begin immediately on the first day of the 60-day truce, according to the proposal.
Meanwhile, Hamas said the latest framework comes from Israel and “does not respond to any of our people’s demands, foremost among which is stopping the war and famine,” according to Bassem Naim, a member of the militant group’s political bureau.
“Nevertheless, the movement’s leadership is studying, with all national responsibility, a response to the proposal, in light of the genocide to which our people are being subjected,” he added on Facebook.
According to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the hostage families earlier in the day that he had accepted Witkoff’s proposal.
During her briefing on Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that “special envoy Witkoff and the President submitted a ceasefire proposal to Hamas that Israel backed and supported” and that discussions are ongoing.
“We hope that a cease fire in Gaza will take place so we can return all of the hostages home and that’s been a priority for this administration from the beginning,” Leavitt added.
Under the proposed framework, half of the hostages and half of the prisoners will be released on the first day of the 60-day ceasefire agreement; the other half will be released on the seventh day.
If Israel and Hamas fail to reach an agreement for a permanent ceasefire by the end of the 60-day period, the pause in fighting “may be extended under conditions and for a duration to be agreed upon by the parties so long as the parties are negotiating in good faith,” the proposal says.
But the agreement contains no intrinsic guarantee of a permanent end to the war, a key Hamas demand, nor assurances that the ceasefire will be extended as long as negotiations continue. Instead, the proposal says that US President Donald Trump is “committed to working to ensure that good faith negotiations continue until a final agreement is reached.”
Humanitarian aid, which has only begun to trickle into Gaza after an 11-week Israeli blockade on food, medicine and more, would enter Gaza “immediately” at the start of the ceasefire. It will be distributed “through agreed upon channels,” including the United Nations and the Red Crescent. The proposal makes no mention of the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid mechanism.
The proposal does say the aid will begin flowing “once Hamas agrees to the ceasefire agreement,” an indication that the plan was coordinated with the Israelis. On Thursday, Leavitt said that “Israel signed off on this proposal before it was sent to Hamas.”
The US, Egypt, and Qatar would guarantee the ceasefire agreement, according to the proposal.
The proposal appears to stipulate that Trump would take credit for a deal. “President Trump will personally announce the ceasefire agreement,” it says.
Hamas has responded to Witkoff’s latest proposal with three counterpoints, according to a senior Hamas official.
The official told CNN Hamas would agree to the release of the hostages and a 60-day ceasefire, as outlined in the US proposal, but they want US assurances that negotiations over a permanent ceasefire will continue and the fighting will not resume after the 60 days.
Hamas wants the humanitarian assistance to be carried out through the United Nations channels. And lastly, they want the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to pull back to the positions that they held on March 2 this year, before Israel re-launched its military operations
Another person familiar with the Hamas counterproposal confirmed the three points.
The senior Hamas official told CNN that they responded to Witkoff’s proposal via Palestinian-American interlocutor Bishara Bahbah, who has been in direct discussions with Hamas negotiators in Doha.
The Hamas official said that two days ago, they discussed the Hamas terms with Bahbah, which were sent to Witkoff. Then, the official said, after Witkoff met with Israeli official Ron Dermer in Washington this week, “everything changed 100%.”
“We were shocked because we were told 2-3 times from Bishara [Bahbah] he approved the framework and had no problem,” said the senior Hamas official, calling the latest Witkoff proposal an “Israeli paper.”
“We are ready to return all the hostages in one day, just we want a guarantee that war will not come again after that,” the official said. “Now in this paper we didn’t find it,” the Hamas official said. “They want to continue the war, we want to stop this,” he added.
Naim, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, wrote on Facebook that a proposal had been agreed upon with Witkoff last week and that the latest framework comes from Israel and it “means perpetuating the occupation and continuing the killing and famine.”
After this latest proposal, Hamas is ready to release half of the remaining 20 living hostages, which the first Hamas official called a “big risk” because there’s no guarantee Israel will respect the agreement.
“We know that Witkoff is a strong man he can do something. He’s the only one who can impact Israel,” the official said
The same official said the Trump administration reneged on terms following the release of Israeli-American Edan Alexander, including a thanks to Hamas from President Trump and humanitarian aid that didn’t immediately start flowing back into Gaza.
“Hamas is very, very interested to reach an agreement to end the war and return the hostages,” said the official.
Earlier on Thursday, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalal Smotrich said accepting the proposal would be “sheer madness,” writing on social media that he “will not allow such a thing to happen. Period.”
But Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the proposal “publicly and immediately.” He said he would support the government, even if its far-right members abandoned it.
On Friday, UN Secretary General spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that the UN hopes the negotiation process will be successful.
“We very much hope that the work of the mediators will be successful, so we can put an end to this cycle of suffering, cycle of violence we’re all witnessing. Hopefully, put Israelis and Palestinians back on a positive track on the peace process,” Dujarric said.
