From the Liveblog of
Monday, May 6, 2024
Hamas says it accepts ceasefire proposal, does not specify terms
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh tells Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel that the terror group accepts their terms for a ceasefire with Israel, according to an official announcement from Hamas.
The announcement does not specify what those terms are.
????UPDATE #Israel #Palestine
Hamas's political chief Ismail Haniyeh informed Egypt and Qatar that the group has accepted a truce agreement.
"Brother Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas movement’s political bureau, had a phone call with the Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh…
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) May 6, 2024
A senior Hamas official tells Al Jazeera the same.
Israel has repeatedly said it will not accept a deal, as repeatedly demanded by Hamas, that conditions the release of hostages on the end of the war. On Saturday, furthermore, an official source, widely believed to be Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stated that Israel had not empowered the mediators to issue guarantees of an end to the war, either.
US, Egyptian, and Qatari mediators have been negotiating with Hamas in recent days over a three-phase proposal, green-lit by Israel. The proposal has not been published, but reportedly provides, in the first phase, for 33 living hostages — women, children, the elderly and the sick — to be freed during a 40-day truce, in return for hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners.
As per the reported text of the offer, indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas would begin anew on the 16th day of the truce, to set out an arrangement to restore sustainable calm to Gaza over the second and third stages of the deal.
In the second phase, all remaining living prisoners would be released during a further 42-day truce, in return for hundreds more security prisoners, and the IDF would withdraw from Gaza.
The third and final stage of the deal would again last 42 days and Hamas would reportedly be required to hand over the bodies of those who were killed on October 7 or died in captivity, in exchange for bodies of Palestinian security prisoners who died in Israeli custody.
The rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip would begin during the first phase of the deal, starting with the restoration of Gaza’s roads, electricity, water, sanitation, and communication infrastructure. Preparations for a five-year reconstruction plan for Gaza’s homes and civilian infrastructure would be completed during the second phase of the deal, and construction would begin in the third stage.
