Hamas official says group open to freeing hostages, five-year truce in Gaza

Hamas is open to an agreement to end the Gaza war that would include the one-time release of all remaining hostages and a five-year cessation of hostilities, an official from the Palestinian terror group says.

“Hamas is ready for an exchange of prisoners in a single batch and a truce for five years,” the official tells AFP on condition of anonymity, as a delegation from his group is set to meet mediators in Cairo later in the day.

On April 17, Hamas, which opposes a “partial” ceasefire agreement, rejected an Israeli proposal that included a 45-day truce in exchange for the return of 10 living hostages.

The group has consistently demanded that a truce agreement must lead to the end of the war, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and the immediate and sufficient entry of humanitarian aid into the war-battered Palestinian territory.

Israel, for its part, demands the return of all hostages and the disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza — the latter being a “red line” for the Islamist terror group.